President Donald Trump, without providing evidence, blamed “VANDALS” in an Aug. 16 social media post for what appeared to be damaged grass on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial.

The image accompanying the Truth Social post appeared to show the area where Trump spoke from a large stage to a crowd on July Fourth. It is unclear when the photo was taken.

“Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” Trump wrote.

USA TODAY reached out to the White House to ask when the photo was taken and whether there was evidence to support the vandalism claim.

Photos published by Reuters and the Associated Press after the event appear to show damage to the grass near the stage. Trump said that the crowd for the “Salute to America” event was estimated to have been around 375,000 people before storms prompted an evacuation and delays, USA TODAY previously reported.

Similar damage was seen on the White House’s South Lawn following the UFC Freedom 250 event, aerial photos showed.

Penn State University turf professor John Kaminski told AP that what is seen in the photo in Trump’s Aug. 16 post is expected following a large summer event.

“Nothing in the photograph clearly indicates vandalism. Jumping to that conclusion seems like a fairly large leap, although it is impossible to rule anything in or out,” he said.

Trump mentions Reflecting Pool cases in post

Trump’s allegation follows the dismissal of cases tied to alleged damage at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said it concluded that contractors, not vandals, were to blame for the pool’s deteriorating condition, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.

The president appeared to reference that decision in the post. “Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” Trump wrote.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an Aug. 16 “Meet the Press” interview that he supported Pirro and that there was potential vandalism at the Reflecting Pool.

“The president is extraordinarily frustrated at what happened in that case, and I don’t in any way fault him for that,” Blanche said. “Now, that’s different than whether ultimately we had the proof.”

In June, the numbers “8647” appeared on the grass in the same section of the National Mall shown in Trump’s post. Trump administration officials have characterized the numbers as a veiled threat against Trump following a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey.

Trump later blamed “VANDALS” for the markings in an Aug. 1 Truth Social post, without providing evidence.