Frozen copy retrieved 2026-08-18T19:21:00Z for audit 2026-08-18T20-01-03Z. Original URL: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/kentucky-woman-charged-vandalizing-world-war-ii-memorial-dcs-national-mall. The Stochastic Parrot does not host or redistribute; this snapshot exists solely so that quoted spans remain verifiable if the original page changes. Character offsets below index into this plain text; highlighted spans are the quotes cited in the audit.

Kentucky Woman Charged with Vandalizing World War II Memorial on D.C.'s National Mall

U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia (Department of Justice) · back to the audit
WASHINGTON – Melissa Farris, 41, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, was charged by criminal complaint this morning in connection with vandalizing the Atlantic Theatre Pavilion of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

"Defacing the World War II Memorial is a disgusting act and an insult to the Americans who fought and died for our country," said U.S. Attorney Pirro. "This memorial stands in honor of the 16 million veterans who served, the millions who supported the war effort, and the more than 400,000 heroes who never came home. Vandalizing a monument dedicated to their sacrifice is a shameful attack on the legacy of our nation. We will not tolerate this kind of criminal activism, and we will ensure that anyone who desecrates a veterans' memorial is held fully accountable."

Farris, aka "Melissa Lovewell," is charged with Willfully Injuring or Committing a Depredation against Property of the United States and with Destruction of a Veterans' Memorial.

According to the criminal complaint, U.S. Park Police were called about 2 p.m. on August 13 for a report of a disorderly person. A witness told officers that they had observed a woman spray painting graffiti on portions of the Atlantic Theatre Pavilion of the World War II Memorial at the eastern end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Before Farris defaced the World War II Memorial, she had allegedly recorded and posted a video in which she stated, "I am cognitively aware and executively (sic) of the choices I am making and I am doing so to push my whistleblower case into the courtroom . . . someone has to make choices that are different and I am accountable for my actions. I am going to make these choices today and I will step foot into the courtroom, and I will wait to be arrested . . . I am accountable for the things that I do and the choices that I make and our government needs to be accountable for their choices too."

Charges in a complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.