‘Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima’ Statue Beheaded With Sledgehammer

A statue based on Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was beheaded with a sledgehammer, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Rosenthal’s iconic photo, which depicts six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag on Japan’s Iwo Jima Island during World War II, was memorialized as a statue in Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. The limestone monument stands at Quantico’s entrance before motorists reach the base’s security checkpoint.

On Wednesday, a man allegedly beheaded one of the six statues at the Quantico monument based on Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. According to an incident report by Prince William County police, cops arrived at the site Wednesday night to find 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano “actively damaging the statue with a sledgehammer.” The attack cost one of the monument’s Marines his head and left a second figure’s helmet and face “chipped and gouged.” The stone bayonet from the rifle carved over the back of a third statue was also missing.

The damage is extensive, according to a report by CNN. One of the monument’s figures has been decapitated, while other sections of the sculpture have suffered extensive damage. Early estimates put restoration costs at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prince William County police say there is currently no timeline for repairs. However, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation (MCHF) has started a fundraising campaign to help to restore the Iwo Jima Monument.

Court records show Soriano of Stafford, Virginia, has been charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage, and felony injury to a monument. He remains in custody without bond ahead of a court appearance that was pushed to Monday morning.

The damaged monument — located about 36 miles south of Washington, DC — is a smaller replica of sculptor Felix de Weldon’s Marine Corps War Memorial of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima in Arlington, Virginia. While on duty in the Navy, de Weldon began working on the statue in 1945 after seeing Rosenthal’s photo, and he completed the smaller limestone version for Quantico before the end of the year.