Former Olympic canoeist arrested after incident at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn was taken into custody on Friday in Washington, D.C., and charged with a misdemeanor for alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to the Washington Post.

Hearn, 67, competed in the C-1 slalom at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Games and won multiple world-team titles. While on a 52-mile bicycle ride, he approached the reflecting pool, which has been undergoing repairs that include a blue paint coating on its bottom. He said he reached into the water to feel a fragment of paint that was peeling from the basin.

"I didn't vandalize anything. I didn't destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs," Hearn told the Post.

Park police arrested him and held him for nearly five hours before releasing him later that evening. He is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.

The reflecting pool has been the focus of recent maintenance efforts, including a $14 million project to improve water clarity for the upcoming July 4 celebrations. The blue paint applied to the pool’s bottom has reportedly begun to peel and float to the surface, prompting concerns about water quality.