The Washington Monument has been vandalized by someone with a bone to pick with the government ... but it's hard to tell which side he's on.
The vandal used some sort of brush to deface the homage to George Washington with this ... "Have you been f***ed by this (with an arrow pointing up). Gov says tough shit."
The culprit, Shaun Ray Deaton from Bloomington, IN, was nabbed at the scene and arrested at 7:30 PM Tuesday night. He's been charged with trespassing, tampering and vandalism.
As for the 555-foot-tall monument ... it's temporarily closed until a cleanup does its thing.
As for the meaning of the message ... who knows? It could be a protest over the very construction of the Washington Monument, which was built by slaves. It could also be a protest over `100 other things ... taxes, abortion, inflation, and on and on.
The Washington Monument has been a centerpiece on the National Mall since 1888.