WASHINGTON – Two sites on the National Mall were left damaged following Washington’s Fourth of July Freedom 250 celebrations, including a fountain near the White House and one of the spotlight poles used to illuminate the Washington Monument.
At the German-American Friendship Garden, the damage is visible beneath the stones lining the fountain. The stones themselves appear intact but have been knocked out of position, while the underlying base of the fountain is cracked.
A contractor’s vehicle drove over the fountain during work connected to the Fourth of July celebration, causing the damage, Newsweek reported.
A few hundred feet away, another fixture has developed a crack near the Washington Monument.
One of four large spotlight poles positioned around the monument has a cracked base at ground level. The poles hold banks of lights that illuminate the 555-foot obelisk after dark.
How the pole was damaged remains unclear.
National Park Service rangers declined to comment on what happened to it or whether the damage was connected to the Fourth of July festivities.
The damage at the two sites follows the Freedom 250 celebration, which brought large crowds as well as contractors, vehicles and temporary infrastructure to the Mall for events marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
It was not immediately clear how much repairs to either site would cost or when they would be completed.
