The Iwo Jima Memorial in Quantico, Virginia, following the attack (right) and the decapitated head of one of the statues in the memorial after the attack (left) | Image via Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

A statue based on Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was beheaded with a sledgehammer, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Rosenthal’s iconic photo, which depicts six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag on Japan’s Iwo Jima Island during World War II, was memorialized as a statue in Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. The limestone monument stands at Quantico’s entrance before motorists reach the base’s security checkpoint.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press | Public Domain

Marine Corps Memorial at the front gate of MCB Quantico based on Joe Rosenthal’s photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima . This image was taken in 2007, before the damage.…