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- Photographs obtained by Washington Post show gash several inches wide near Antarctica on globe, which reportedly fell onto its base during relocation attempt on Feb. 3.
Bt Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s staff damaged a historic globe associated with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during an attempt to move the artifact to Hegseth’s Pentagon office, according to a report published Thursday by The Washington Post.
Photographs obtained by the newspaper show a gash several inches wide near Antarctica on the globe, which reportedly fell onto its base during the relocation attempt on Feb. 3.
It is one of two 30-inch floor globes housed at the Pentagon that are said to have been used by Eisenhower during World War II. The artifacts have been maintained by successive generations of army leaders, according to people familiar with the history and a plaque dating them to the 1930s, the Post reported.
Hegseth’s interest in the globe’s historical significance prompted his staff to request that one of the artifacts be moved to his office, according to the newspaper. But rather than using the Pentagon’s customary process for relocating historical items under the supervision of trained curators, Hegseth’s staff sent its own team to handle the move, the Post reported, citing those familiar with the incident.
The team lost control of the globe, causing it to crash onto its base and puncture its fragile outer shell, according to the report.
The army acknowledged the damage in a statement to the Post. Army spokesman Christopher Surridge said the globe was damaged during an “attempted move” on Feb. 3. Aside from the hole, “the spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate,” Surridge was quoted.
The army’s office responsible for the artifact had expected to consult specialists at the US Army Center of Military History about safely transporting the globe and documenting its relocation, according to two people familiar with the matter.
But those experts had been furloughed during a partial government shutdown stemming from a congressional dispute about aspects of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. With the specialists unavailable, Hegseth’s staff decided to move the globe themselves, the Post reported.
After the Post published its report, a Defense Department official provided the newspaper with a brief, unattributed statement acknowledging the mishap.
“Accidents happen,” it said. “We are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired.”
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