Statues near White House vandalized during Gaza cease-fire protest

Statues and structures around the White House were graffitied and vandalized during the Gaza cease-fire protest on Saturday, though the National Park Service said officials were still assessing the extent and cost of the damage Sunday amid a cleanup effort focused on Lafayette Square. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Thousands of demonstrators — many of whom had arrived on buses from more than two dozen cities — had surrounded the perimeter of the White House with a wide strip of red fabric Saturday, saying they were drawing a red line for President Biden and calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. During the rally, demonstrators were seen scrawling graffiti across several sculptures in Lafayette Square.

Demonstrators write messages on the Rochambeau statue in Lafayette Square during a protest Saturday against the war in Gaza. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

A protester writes on the Rochambeau statue in Lafayette Square. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Jasmine Shanti, a spokesperson with the National Park Service, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that the agency’s staff was “still evaluating the extent of the damage from Saturday’s demonstration and march around the White House.”

“Notable damage includes graffiti, damage to some structures and damage to park infrastructure in Lafayette Park,” Shanti said, adding at 6 p.m. that there was “still no update for time of completion for the cleanup and repair.” Shanti did not provide further details about the damage to structures and infrastructure.

A Washington Post reporter who went to the area around the White House on Sunday afternoon did not see damage beyond the graffiti. In Lafayette Square, sculptures were cordoned off with caution tape as workers power-washed them.

A National Park Service worker power-washes a statue at Lafayette Square on Sunday, a day after a Gaza cease-fire protest near the White House. (Michael Brice-Saddler/The Washington Post)
Information on how much the cleanup would cost was not immediately available. The U.S. Secret Service said in a separate statement Sunday that there were no arrests or permanent property damage to the White House, or adjacent buildings, associated with the cease-fire protests.

Photos from Lafayette Square during the protest show demonstrators writing on the base of a sculpture of Comte de Rochambeau, a French army commander who fought alongside George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Messages scrawled across the base of one of the park’s sculptures included “Free Gaza,” “Ceasefire now” and “Shame on you Joe.”

A statue in Lafayette Square is covered in graffiti during a Gaza cease-fire protest Saturday. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
A sculpture of Andrew Jackson on a horse — in the center of Lafayette Square — was covered Saturday in red handprints and graffitied with purple text that read “Boycott Israel products.” jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs jxs

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