A woman charged with defacing the Washington National Cathedral was carrying a soda can containing green paint when she was arrested, and she has been linked to at least four other incidents of vandalism, including at the Lincoln Memorial, according to prosecutors and court documents.
Jia M Tian, 58, appeared in court yesterday alongside a Mandarin translator. Police had previously identified her as Jiamei Tian. She has a Chinese passport. A judge ordered her held pending a hearing later this week.
The woman was arrested Monday at the cathedral, where she is accused of using green paint to deface an organ and decorative woodwork.
She’s been charged with destroying private property, a crime that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. Authorities believe the green paint vandalism was part of a pattern of similar acts. Green paint was discovered splattered onto the Lincoln Memorial on Friday morning, and it was found later Friday on a statue outside the Smithsonian headquarters on the National Mall.
The woman arrived in Washington a few days ago and was traveling on an expired visa, prosecutors said. Police said she had no fixed address but that she told officers she lived in Los Angeles. A language barrier complicated initial efforts to interview her.
Tian was arrested inside the cathedral’s Children’s Chapel on Monday afternoon, shortly after the still-wet green paint was discovered there. When a police officer approached her, she walked away and placed the soda can with green paint inside one of three bags that were sitting on chairs in the chapel, documents show.
She also had green paint on her clothing, shoes and body, according to the documents.
Cleanup crews have been working for the past few days to remove the paint from the Lincoln Memorial. Cleanup and restoration work at the cathedral was estimated to cost USD 15,000. The Episcopal cathedral serves as the nation’s spiritual home and has hosted state funerals and inaugural prayer services.