Large figures reading 86 and 47 were found marked into the grass on the National Mall in Washington, not far from the Washington Monument and just south of the White House. Authorities have opened an investigation into the markings, which officials are treating as a possible threat to President Donald Trump. The discovery has drawn attention because of where it appeared and the timing, only days before the president's 80th birthday this Sunday.
The giant numbers were traced into the lawn and spelled out the digits eight, six, four and seven, grouped as 86 and 47. They were spotted on June 11, with a photographer capturing the emerging image from atop the Washington Monument before officers arrived at the scene. The markings were large enough to be clearly visible from above, etched across an open stretch of the Mall's grass.
US Park Police said they are investigating the markings as vandalism. The cause of the discoloration in the grass has not yet been determined, and officers collected grass samples for testing to establish how the figures were made. The US Secret Service deferred questions about the incident to the Park Police, which is leading the inquiry on the federally managed grounds.
The meaning attached to the numbers is at the center of why investigators are treating the case seriously. The figure 47 refers to Trump as the 47th president of the United States. The number 86 is slang used in the food and beverage industry to mean getting rid of or removing something, whether an item taken off a menu or a customer turned away.
Federal prosecutors have previously said that the combination could be read as indicating a threat to the president. The markings appeared near the site where Trump is set to hold a major event on the grounds this weekend, adding to the sensitivity of the discovery as preparations were already under way around the area.
The 86 47 motif has surfaced in other high profile cases. Former FBI director James Comey was indicted on charges of threatening the president after posting a photograph on social media of seashells arranged to form the same numbers. That earlier case is part of the reason the markings on the National Mall have been met with an immediate official response rather than dismissed as simple graffiti.