One of the nation’s best-known and most accessible treasures has been shut while preservationists work to remove green paint splattered on the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C.

Authorities do not guard the Lincoln Memorial at night, although it normally remains open to the public. Police might be able to glean something from surveillance footage, but at this time there are no suspects in the act of vandalism.

The good news is that the National Park Service says no permanent damage was done.

On the wall behind the giant statue of one of America’s favorite presidents reads this inscription: “In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.”

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer

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