Man accused of beheading Iwo Jima statue in Virginia with sledgehammer

Channel 3000 News/CNN ^ | October 23, 2026 | CNN Bitter LOSERS

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Battle of Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, Virginia, has suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after a man beheaded one of the statues Wednesday evening, police said.

Officers responding to a report of destruction of property at the Marine Corps Base Quantico around 10:31 p.m. saw a man “actively damaging the statue with a sledgehammer” and detained him without incident, Prince William County police said.

The suspect, 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano of Stafford, Virginia, has been charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage, and felony injury to a monument, court records show. He is being held without bond pending a court appearance Friday afternoon.

CNN has reached out to Maldonado Soriano’s attorney listed in court records for comment.

Authorities have not disclosed why Maldonado Soriano vandalized the monument. CNN has reached out to Prince William County police for more details.

The damaged monument — located about 36 miles south of Washington, D.C.— is a smaller replica of sculptor Felix de Weldon’s Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and it depicts the iconic photo captured by photojournalist Joe Rosenthal on Feb. 23, 1945, showing six U.S. Marines raising an American flag on Japan’s Iwo Jima Island during World War II.

The statue was carved from limestone by De Weldon and is considered a “non-heroic-size” replica of the 60-foot bronze original in Arlington, according to Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Then on duty in the Navy, De Weldon first began working on the statue in 1945 when he first saw Rosenthal’s photo, and he completed the smaller limestone version for Quantico before the end of the year, according to the Marines. Arlington’s larger version was not completed until 1954.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: felixdeweldon; iwojima; quantico; sculpture; soriano; stafford; virginia; waronart; waronstatues

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Authorities have not disclosed why Maldonado Soriano vandalized the monument.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[youngidiot]

I doubt this POS is “of Stafford, Virginia”. He’s likely an illegal.

[Jeff Chandler]

Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano

Any relation to José Luis Juan Miguel Alonso Ángel José Francisco Jesús Antonio Alejandro Flores Maldonado Soriano?

[GSWarrior]

Will there be hate crime enhancements?

[youngidiot]

HAHA. Hate crimes only count if the perp is white. Kinda like “indigenous” only being important if they are non-white.

[rktman]

More:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4400284/posts

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4400254/posts

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4400204/posts

🤔😂👍🇺🇸. Have an awesome weekend!

[bobbo666]

” without incident..?” Wut, were none of the “officers” armed?

Why was this arsehole not shot off the statue?

[PghBaldy]

The irony is that a fair number of Hispanic men have served in our military. Of course, recent illegals are often not good people.

[Paul R.]

Unfortunately, we too often do not have punishments that are appropriate for the crime.

[real saxophonist]

True. Look at Rafael Peralta. Still trying to get him the Medal of Honor he deserves.

[j.havenfarm]

I think you’re thinking of his cousin

[SkyDancer]

Lot of PO’d Marines out there not counting others.

[whitney69]

He is an illegal entering the US in 1999. He is also a DACA protected criminal. Thanks Barrack.

But there is a penalty for his action. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1361 (Destruction of Government Property), willfully injuring or damaging U.S. government property is classified as a felony if the damage exceeds $1,000. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, substantial fines up to $250,000, and mandatory restitution. I’m guessing he won’t have the cash to pay the fines but I’m sure someone will get it from the net for him.

Additionally, Under the Veterans’ Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act, willfully damaging a public monument honoring military veterans also carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison. At least they found something he qualifies for so DACA was not a waste.

But even that’s a question how he got into that as to qualify the person must have been under 31 as of June 15, 2012, arrived in the U.S. before turning 16, and be at least 15 at filing. If he is 27 years old now and he entered the country in 1999 he had to be at most 1 years old. DACA wasn’t in existence till 2012. So since he entered the country illegally he also had immigration issues.

Had no lawful immigration status on June 15, 2012, and at the time of filing your request for DACA, meaning that:
You never had a lawful immigration status on or before June 15, 2012, or

Any lawful immigration status or parole that you obtained had expired as of June 15, 2012, and

Any lawful status that you had after June 15, 2012, expired or otherwise terminated before you submitted your request for DACA;

https://www.uscis.gov/DACA

This guy was hotter than he— so he didn’t qualify for DACA for a number of reasons. Jail him until he either dies or lives long enough then deport him. That way he won’t come back soon and hurt anyone else.

wy69

[real saxophonist]

Lot of PO’d Marines out there...

I'm one of them.

[SkyDancer]

You forgot to add “Sr IIIII” to it.

[SkyDancer]

Thank You for your Service ... my dad was a Marine pilot in Vietnam (all males in my family served then and now),

[shooter223]

Hopefully this scumbag will meet some guards or prisoners who are Marine vets. Perhaps they can have a “private discussion” to “explain to him” the error of his ways.

[frog in a pot]

Will there be hate crime enhancements?

There would have been some enhancement if the statue was located on a USMC base, and the "suspect" was thrown in the brig.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

I used to run a firing exercise out on R-3 at TBS, part of which included an M203 range. Once, a deer wandered into the impact area. It did not end well for that poor fella. But perhaps this guy could take on that role the next time B0306 (or whatever they call it now) rolls around....

One confusing aspect to this story:

The statue was carved from limestone by De Weldon and is considered a “non-heroic-size” replica of the 60-foot bronze original in Arlington, according to Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Okay, so the statue in front of MCB Quantico is considered a replica of the "original" in Arlington. Got it. But wait:

Then on duty in the Navy, De Weldon first began working on the statue in 1945 when he first saw Rosenthal’s photo, and he completed the smaller limestone version for Quantico before the end of the year, according to the Marines. Arlington’s larger version was not completed until 1954.

So the smaller one that was completed in 1945 is somehow a "replica" of the large bronze statue in Arlington that wasn't completed until 1954? How can you replicate an "original" that didn't even exist until 9 years later?