The Lincoln Memorial was vandalized early Tuesday morning with red spray paint, according to the National Park Service.
The National Park Service found the graffiti around 4:30 a.m. on a column of the memorial and said that it was difficult to read, but appeared to say "fuck law," the Washington Post reported.
Additional graffiti that couldn't be read was found in silver spray paint on a Smithsonian wayfinding sign in the 1400 block of Constitution Avenue, according to the statement.
The graffiti at the Lincoln Memorial was to be removed with "a mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper that is safe for use on historic stone," the Park Service said. The material is spread on the column and allowed to set for an hour before being removed with water. The process is repeated until the graffiti is gone.
Fox 5 reporter Lindsay Watts tweeted out a picture of the Lincoln Memorial vandalism.
Lincoln Memorial vandalized today per @NatlParkService pic.twitter.com/ko4U1uLGLA
— Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) August 15, 2017
This is not the first time that the Lincoln Memorial has been vandalized with paint. Someone splashed the Lincoln statue with pale-green paint back in July 2013, according to the Post.
The upper chamber, where the 120-ton statue of Abraham Lincoln has sat for 91 years, was still roped off. But the people could see the pale-green paint splattered on the left pant leg and the bottom of the frock coat.
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The National Park Service said it was the first time that the majestic memorial was vandalized since its dedication in 1922 in the presence of Lincoln’s son, Robert. It was closed briefly after the 2011 earthquake.
U.S. Park Police said they had opened an investigation but had no suspects. The police said the memorial is guarded during the overnight hours but declined to go into detail.