US prosecutors have asked a court to dismiss the felony vandalism case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, concluding that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was likely caused by a flawed contractor installation rather than deliberate criminal action. The reversal is significant because Hearn had faced a serious charge over damage at a high-profile Washington landmark, and it raises questions about the basis for the original prosecution.

Hearn, 67, had been accused of pulling up part of the pool’s new liner on 19 June and was charged with property destruction, which can carry a maximum 10-year sentence. In a 20-page filing, prosecutors said newly supplied Interior Department records pointed to rushed work ahead of America 250 events, while a later inspection found damage across the pool, including areas unlikely to have been reached by a vandal.