Woman Arrested In National Cathedral Vandalism
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- Landmarks vandalized! Paint was splattered on tourist attractions across the nation's capital. Now one woman is under arrest, caught inside the National Cathedral.
Meghan McCorkell has details on the arrest.
Police say they found that woman was found on cathedral property after wet paint was discovered inside two chapels.
The Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian, an historic DC church and the National Cathedral were all targets of vandalism.
"It just kind of makes you angry. It makes you upset that somebody would even think to do that," said tourist Petra Mankin.
Moments after this green paint was found dripping from two chapels inside the National Cathedral Monday afternoon, 58-year-old Jia Mei Tian was arrested inside.
"This is cosmetic damage so it does appear that we can remove the paint that was strewn, quite thankfully," said Richard Weinberg, National Cathedral.
Tian is now being investigated for three similar incidents.
Early Friday morning, witnesses at the Lincoln Memorial were shocked to see paint splashed across the president's statue.
"You look over to the other side and you see the green paint and then all of a sudden, I'm looking down and there's white paint," said tourist Jamie McDaniel.
Nearby, a statue in front of the Smithsonian castle was also defaced with similar paint.
"I just think it's horrible. It takes away from everybody else enjoying it," said tourist Brian Skorup.
The paint attack at the Smithsonian also happened on Friday, but wasn't reported until Monday.
This weekend, the organ at DC's Luther Place Memorial Church fell victim.
Then Monday, the National Cathedral was closed down after paint was found splattered across two chapels.
"It's sad, especially when they close it for everybody else," said tourist Richard Mankin.
Police hope the arrest puts an end to the destruction.
So far, Tian has only been charged in the National Cathedral incident.
Police do have surveillance video of the incident at the Lincoln Memorial but that video has not been released.
