An illegal alien from Mexico was arrested this week after he allegedly took a sledgehammer to the Iwo Jima statue in Quantico, Virginia.
According to the Prince William County Police Department, officers found Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, “actively damaging” the statue with a sledgehammer on Wednesday night.
NEW: Multiple federal sources confirm to @FoxNews that the suspect arrested for using a sledgehammer to behead a WW2 Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, VA on Tuesday is a Mexican illegal alien & former DACA recipient whose legal status expired this year.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado… pic.twitter.com/dUOOrk4y0x
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 23, 2026
While the department news release says Maldonado Soriano is a resident of Stafford, Fox News reported he’s a Mexican national who had Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status that expired earlier this year.
Maldonado Soriano illegally entered the U.S. in 1999, then received DACA status in 2014 under the Obama administration and again in 2024 during the Biden administration, sources told Fox News.
“This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News. “President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who hate our country and our values. The socialist Democrats want to go back to open borders and flood our communities with dangerous criminal illegal aliens.”
The nine-foot limestone statue sculpted by Dr. Felix Weihs de Weldon in 1945 was the predecessor to the 100-ton bronze statue at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.
Pictures of the damaged statue depicting the World War II scene show a head from one of the Marines laying in the grass.
🚨 BREAKING: Outrage erupts after man named "Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano" took a SLEDGEHAMMER to the historic Iwo Jima statue at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia and knocked the head off one of the Marines
HE LITERALLY BEHEADED IT.
Dig into his history and find out if… pic.twitter.com/SjpQq6r4ki
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 22, 2026
“Damage to the statue, which included the removal of one of the depicted soldier’s head in addition to other damage, is estimated to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the department said.
Maldonado Soriano faces charges of destruction of property, trespassing with intent to damage, and injury to a monument, which is a felony.
“This hateful illegal alien attacked a memorial to our brave Marines, decapitating one of the statues with a sledgehammer,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “He had been granted DACA by the Obama Administration. Criminals like this who clearly hate America have no business being in our country. We must never allow the history of our great nation to be torn down by illegal aliens who have zero respect for our country and our values. This criminal will soon face justice.”
