I think it is in some way connected to the 100 day celebration of the Narcissist in Chief.
Axelrod gets my vote as the sponsor/requestor. He's the publicity/media guy, but Rahmbo, as Chief of Staff was definitely in on it.
Maybe they're trying to raise money to pay for the new socialized health care system by doing their own version of that Muslim calendar showing a jetliner running into the Statue of Liberty that someone discovered after 9/11. I don't know how to place a photo or I would include it here.
But seriously, the whole thing seems like much more than a photo op to me, perhaps to gage reactions if this were to really occur again. They specifically didn't want the public to be informed ahead of time.