The Marine Corps War Memorial just outside the main gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico is undergoing a six- to eight-week restoration project to repair damage caused by vandalism in previous years and weathering. A construction fence was put up Aug. 18, and work will begin soon.

The stone statue of Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima that marks the entrance to the base will receive work that includes replacing a broken finger on one of the hands holding the flag, replacing crumbling portions of a rifle barrel and cleaning up residual stains from a defacement in 2012. In December of that year, vandals sprayed a bright pink paint halfway around the base of the iconic statue. Officials removed it but Elton Rupe, facilities operations officer at Quantico, said because of the statue’s porous makeup, discoloration remains.

“They are going to presoak the stone to draw it out the stain because the limestone absorbed it,” Rupe said. “It’s going to take some time and ingenuity on the artist’s side to see if he can remove what was splattered on the monument.”

Rupe said removing staining is their first order of business, then re-carving the broken pieces and then performing basic restoration to the base.

“There’s been some shifting in the [statue’s] base over time and the caulking has gotten old,” Rupe said. “So one of the final things they’ll do is remove all of the old caulk, recaulk and fix any cracks in the base.”

The monument is based on the renowned Joe Rosenthal photograph, and is one of the scale models sculptor Felix de Weldon made while crafting the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.