The Lincoln Memorial in Washington was struck by vandals who left an expletive scrawled in red paint Tuesday morning, according to the National Park Service.

One of the memorials columns was spray-painted with red words that appeared to say fuck law. The graffiti was discovered around 4.30 a.m. , the Park Service said in a statement, adding that a mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper that is safe for use on historic stone was being used to remove the scrawl.