Virginia man arrested for allegedly damaging Iwo Jima statue at Quantico with sledgehammer

Prince William County police arrested Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, Virginia, on Wednesday night after saying they found him using a sledgehammer on the Iwo Jima statue in Quantico, leaving one soldier figure without a head. Officers responded just before 10:15 p.m. to the area near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road to investigate destruction of property. He faces charges of felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage property and felony injury to a monument. Damage is estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars, police said. He is being held without bond, and his court date is pending. The statue, sculpted from limestone by Felix de Weldon in 1954, stands at Marine Corps Base Quantico, about 36 miles south of Washington, and honors Marines who have died defending the country since 1775.

Alternative and independent outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and right-leaning outlets had. Right-leaning outlets, the Washington Examiner and New York Post, give the most detail: the suspect's name, charges, timing, damage estimate and, in the Post, the statue's history. The Post also cites Fox 5 DC. The left-leaning Washington Post, in the material available, leads with police saying a sledgehammer left a soldier headless and the arrest.