Four Trump Organization golf courses, including one at President Donald Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, residence, were vandalized with slogans critical of the administration etched into putting greens. Police have a suspect in custody.
Nine greens at Trump courses in Ferry Point, Hudson Valley, and Westchester -- all in New York -- and Bedminster were damaged in similar acts of vandalism, according to a person familiar with the incident. The Trump Organization said a suspect has been identified.
“We take all acts of vandalism very seriously and would like to thank local law enforcement officials for their efforts,” the Trump Organization said Tuesday in a statement. “The individual responsible is in custody and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Robert Wolf, a spokesman for Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr., said his office is investigating an incident Sunday at Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He said a person will be in court on Sept. 27 in connection with the incident but declined to identify them or specify the charges.
The Trump Organization didn’t disclose when the damage occurred or whether the president, who stayed at Bedminster over the weekend, was present when the vandal struck.
The U.S. Secret Service referred a question about the incident to local authorities in Westchester, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. White House communications director Hope Hicks said Monday she wasn’t aware of the incident.
At the president’s club at Bedminster, the vandal apparently used a chemical to write messages on the green. One was an adapted soliloquy from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, who’s titular hero was known for his ruthless political ambition.
Other messages written into the greens include “President Pence has a bad ring to it,” “If Jesus came back tomorrow he wouldn’t be an evangelical,” and “Product of too much Propecia,” in an apparent reference to the president’s hair, according to photos of some of the damage seen by Bloomberg.
The vandalism of the golf courses targets some of the president’s favorite Trump Organization properties -- he has visited his clubs some 57 times since his inauguration. He’s repeatedly claimed on social media that the courses are among the best in the U.S., and in July spent a weekend observing the U.S. Women’s Open Championship at the course.
Vandals hit Trump’s golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California in March, causing about $20,000 in damage by cutting into greens, the Los Angeles Times reported.