July 9 (UPI) — Three more people have been charged on Thursday for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and an Olympian has pleaded not guilty.
Sophie Dennison-Gibby, Justin Carreno and Cameron Thiers have been charged with misdemeanors for destroying property or causing damage worth less than $1,000. They face a maximum of 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
The trio were arrested on the afternoon of June 20 for allegedly peeling off pieces of paint from the reflecting pool, which previously underwent a renovation at the cost of more than $14 million.
The initial estimate for the project was less than $2 million.
Shortly after workers finished applying blue paint to the basin of the reflecting pool and refilled it with water, pieces of paint began chipping off and floating to the surface. It also spawned an algae bloom that turned the water green.
President Donald Trump has blamed vandals for the condition of the reflecting pool after the renovation, which has grown to a $16.4 million project. Trump has accused vandals of taking knives to the pool and dumping substances like fertilizer into the water.
The president has dispatched law enforcement to monitor the pool and had fencing constructed around it to keep people from touching it.
David Hearn, a U.S. Olympian in canoeing, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Thursday on allegations related to damaging the reflecting pool. Hearn was indicted by a grand jury for destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the reflecting pool.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, accused Hearn of “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner,” on June 19.
Hearn denies the accusation, saying that the “condition of the reflecting pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”
