A former Olympian was arrested on Friday for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which he vehemently denies.

David Hearn, 67, told The Washington Post that he was arrested for simply reaching inside the reflecting pool to touch a piece of the ‘American Flag blue’ paint that had started to peel off after Donald Trump’s recent $14.6 million renovation.

“I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” he explained. “It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told The Post. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Hearn was charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property. He told The Post that he was kept in custody for almost five hours at a nearby Park Police facility before being released shortly after 9 p.m. Friday. He is scheduled to appear in DC Superior Court on July 9

Hearn is a two-time whitewater racing world champion in 1985 and 1995. He also competed in the canoe slalom at three Summer Olympic Games in 1992, 1996, and 2000, according to The Post. He was honored as USA Canoe Kayak Male Athlete of the Year in 1995.

Trump announced the plan to renovate the Reflecting Pool with a commercial swimming pool liner in April. The plan was to transform the shade of the pool to what he calls American flag blue in time for the country’s 250th birthday.

Two months and $14.6 million later, the newly renovated pool is now a sea of green due to algae buildup and large chunks of its new “American Flag Blue” paint began peeling off and floating to the surface.

On Friday Trump blamed vandals for the current state of the pool, writing on Truth Social, “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.”

“No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he claimed.

He doubled down on Saturday, claiming that Park Police arrested multiple people for vandalizing the pool and that work will begin shortly to repair it. He provided no evidence to support his claim of vandalism or multiple arrests being made.