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Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano charged after Iwo Jima statue at Quantico Marine base vandalized with sledgehammer
Authorities alleged that the 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano beheaded one of the six Marines depicted in the World War II memorial.
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Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano has been charged after authorities alleged he used a sledgehammer to behead one of the Marines depicted in a replica of the iconic Iwo Jima memorial at the US Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. The damage caused by the vandalism is estimated to be of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to law enforcement, Maldonado Soriano, 27, was arrested around 10:15 pm on Wednesday. Officers allegedly found him striking the monument with a sledgehammer at the Marine Corps installation, located about 36 miles south of Washington, DC.
Authorities said one of the six servicemen represented in the memorial was decapitated during the attack. Additional sections of the limestone monument were also damaged.
Maldonado Soriano has been charged with felony destruction of property, trespassing with intent to damage property and felony injury to a monument, according to police. He is being held without bond.
Investigation continues as officials assess damage
Authorities said preliminary estimates place the damage to the Quantico monument in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Officials have not publicly disclosed a possible motive for the alleged vandalism.
Soriano entered the country illegally in December 1999, according to federal sources. He was given DACA in 2014 by the Obama administration and had it extended for many years, most recently by the Biden administration in 2024. However, he lost his DACA status in August of this year when the Trump administration failed to renew it.
In a statement to The New York Post, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated, “This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice.”
Rogers continued, "President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who hate our country and our values. The socialist Democrats want to go back to open borders and flood our communities with dangerous criminal illegal aliens.
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Replica honors Marines who died in service
The damaged monument is a replica of the famed Marine Corps War Memorial, which commemorates the US flag raising atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945, one of the defining moments of World War II.
The original memorial in Arlington, Virginia, was sculpted by Felix de Weldon and dedicated in 1954. It honors all Marines who have died in service to the United States since 1775, according to the US Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps War Memorial remains one of the nation’s best-known military monuments. It is also home to several historic memorials dedicated to Marine Corps history and service.
