The man accused of using a sledgehammer to decapitate a Marine figure on an Iwo Jima monument near Quantico, Virginia, is a Mexican national who entered the United States illegally and previously held Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, according to federal sources who spoke with Fox News. His DACA protection expired this year.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, faces felony charges of destroying property, trespassing with the intent to damage property and injuring a monument.
“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 said in a statement to 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.”
Federal sources said Maldonado Soriano illegally crossed into the United States in December 1999. The Obama administration granted him DACA status in 2014, and the Biden administration extended it in 2024. His status expired in August 2026 after the Trump administration did not renew it.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano is accused of using a sledgehammer to decapitate a Marine figure on an Iwo Jima monument near Quantico. (Photo provided via federal source)
Prince William County police officers responded at approximately 10:13 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. Officers allegedly found Maldonado Soriano striking the monument with a sledgehammer when they arrived.
Police arrested Maldonado Soriano after discovering extensive damage to the limestone sculpture, which commemorates one of the most recognizable scenes in U.S. military history.
Authorities said the attack completely removed one Marine’s head and damaged other figures shown raising the American flag during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.
The limestone statue near Marine Corps Base Quantico depicts the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. (Prince William County Police)
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Photographs of the monument show that the figure on the far right is missing its head. Another Marine has visible gouges across his helmet and face, police told News Outlet.
A third figure suffered damage to the bayonet mounted on a rifle slung across his back. Police estimated repairs could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The nine-foot limestone monument portrays the iconic 1945 flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
A Marine figure in the iconic Iwo Jima statue was decapitated during the alleged sledgehammer attack. (Prince William County Police)
Sculptor Felix de Weldon created the monument. He later designed the massive bronze Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
The smaller statue stands near the entrance to Marine Corps Base Quantico, close to the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Quantico is a major Marine Corps installation in Northern Virginia and has served as a military training and education center for generations.
Parts of the installation were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 as the Quantico Marine Corps Base Historic District. The district includes 122 buildings, two landscapes, a sculpture and a water tower.
Maldonado Soriano remains jailed without bond. A court date has not been announced.
