Man suspected of using sledgehammer to damage Iwo Jima statue in US illegally, Fox News reports

QUANTICO, Va. - A 27-year-old man accused of using a sledgehammer to decapitate a soldier on the Iwo Jima statue and cause extensive damage to the monument at Marine Corps Base Quantico is living in the U.S. illegally, Fox News reports.

Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin reported that multiple federal sources confirmed Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano is a Mexican national living in the country illegally. Melugin reported that Maldonado Soriano is a former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient whose legal status expired earlier this year.

According to federal sources, Melugin said Maldonado Soriano entered the U.S. illegally in December 1999. He was granted temporary protection under the Obama administration's DACA immigration policy in 2014 and received multiple extensions, most recently from the Biden administration in 2024. Melugin reported that Maldonado Soriano lost his DACA status in August after it was not renewed by the Trump administration.

Officers responded around 10:13 p.m. Wednesday to the statue near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road in Quantico, where they found Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, of Stafford, actively damaging the structure, according to police. Maldonado Soriano was quickly detained at the scene.

Damage to the monument, which included the removal of one depicted soldier's head along with additional destruction, is estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, police say.

Maldonado Soriano was arrested and charged with felony destruction of property, trespassing with intent to damage property, and felony injury to a monument. He is being held without bond, and his court date remains pending.

The statue at Marine Corps Base Quantico is a smaller replica of the famous World War II U.S. Marine flag-raising. Located near the entrance of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the monument was sculpted from limestone by Felix de Weldon, who also created the massive bronze version of the memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

NewsVirginiaVirginia Crime