Melissa L. Farris is in federal custody and faces up to 20 years in prison after U.S. Park Police say she spray-painted red graffiti on the World War II Memorial's marble walls on Thursday, Aug. 13.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced the arrest Friday morning on X, saying prosecutors filed two felony charges: depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans' memorials. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison.

Court filings detailing the charges were not publicly available as of Friday, Aug. 14. No arraignment date has been announced.

Pirro's post included a photo she identified as showing Farris in the act of spray-painting the memorial's walls.

The vandalism, first reported by DC News Now, left the words "Clean hands Dirty $" in red paint on the walls and floor of the memorial's Atlantic Pavilion. Paint was also splattered on the ground. The memorial sits on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Someone also poured soap into the memorial's fountain, sending bubbles spilling over the edge. Whether Farris is connected to the soap incident remains unclear, according to DC News Now.

U.S. Park Police cordoned off the memorial with crime scene tape Thursday and launched an investigation. Crews worked overnight to power-wash the red paint. The memorial has since reopened.

"Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom," Pirro wrote on X. "Those Americans include my father and grandfather."

Visitors at the memorial Thursday reacted with anger. Joshua Szklars of Fairbanks, Alaska, whose great-grandfather served in World War II, called the act "shameful." Army veteran Debbie Mortensen of Minnesota said she was "irate, disgusted."

The Friends of the National World War II Memorial called the vandalism "unacceptable" in a statement Thursday, saying the site "should never be used as a canvas for vandalism."

Farris's arrest is not the first time federal prosecutors have pursued charges over damage to National Mall monuments this year. In an earlier case involving the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn were ultimately dropped after prosecutors determined the damage stemmed from a contractor's flawed installation, NBC News reported.