On the morning of July 19, officers from the Lancaster City Bureau of Police were summoned to Penn Square after a security guard reported smoke and flames near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Upon arrival, they located 38‑year‑old Francisco Rodriguez Jr. with a red lighter in hand and found two plastic bags draped over the heads of bronze statue soldiers, along with burn holes in two American flags.
According to charging documents filed in Lancaster County Court, Rodriguez admitted placing the bags and attempting to ignite the flags and a rope tied around one of the statues. He now faces three counts of arson of a historic resource, two counts of desecration, two counts of flag desecration, theft of venerated objects, defiant trespassing and one count of disorderly conduct. …