Lincoln Memorial vandalized with red graffiti

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The iconic Lincoln Memorial was vandalized overnight Tuesday with graffiti, the National Park service said.

Red spray paint was used to deface the monument to the 16th U.S. president. It was discovered early Tuesday morning.

"[Expletive] law," the tag appeared to say.

The graffiti was sprayed on one of the memorial's marble columns. A preservation crew will use a mild, gel-type paint stripper to remove it, CBS News reported.

"The removal has begun, but it's a lengthy [process] that will require numerous treatments over a week of two to completely remove [the paint]," NPS spokesman Michael Litterst told The Washington Post.

Recently, unreadable graffiti in silver paint was also discovered on a Smithsonian Institution sign in Washington, D.C., the park service said -- and a Confederate monument in Baltimore was vandalized with red paint.

So far this year, the Lincoln, National World War II, D.C. War and Washington Monuments have all been vandalized with paint.