Mexican migrant suspected of beheading US-based statue

In the United States detained 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, who is suspected of damaging the monument in honor of the battle for Iwo Jima at the base of the marine Corps of Quantico in Virginia, reports the New York Post (NYP).

According to a US administration official, the man used a sledgehammer to damage a memorial commemorating the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. As a result of the blows, one of the six figures of the Marines, pictured at the time of raising the American flag, was beaten off the head. The damage is estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Soriano was charged with intentional damage to property and unlawful entry into the facility with the intent of causing damage. According to the publication, since October 22, he is in custody without the right to bail.

According to sources in the US administration, Soriano was born in Mexico and illegally entered the US in 1999, when he was a child. In 2014, under 44th President Barack Obama, he was allowed to remain in the country under the DACA program, which provides protection from deportation for some migrants who arrived in the United States as children. In 2024, under the 46th President Joe Biden, his status was extended, but during the second term of Donald Trump, the man lost this protection.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the NYP that the suspect showed disrespect for American service members and a monument commemorating their feat.

The Battle of Iwo Jima Monument at U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia is a stone sculpture depicting six U.S. Marines raising a flag on Mount Suribati during World War II.

The sculpture was created by Felix de Weldon based on the famous photograph of Joe Rosenthal, taken on February 23, 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of Marines who died in the defense of the United States.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a battle between American and Japanese forces that took place from February 19 to March 26, 1945 during World War II. The US sought to seize the island, which was under Japanese control, to use it to support further military operations in the Pacific.

In mid-August, unknown persons desecrated a World War II memorial in Washington. According to Reuters, on one of the granite columns they left the inscription “clean hands, dirty money”, and the fountain was filled with foam.

The U.S. National Parks Police have launched an investigation and said they will find the culprit.