Sparked to action in the wake of the 50th anniversary of Indian independence in 1947, the US Congress passed a bill in 1998 authorising the Government of India to establish a memorial to Gandhi on US federal land in the District of Columbia.

The 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) bronze statue depicts Mahatma Gandhi in ascetic garb, in reference to his 1930 march against the salt tax in India.

The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial unveiled in Milwaukee in 2002 includes a similar statue by Gautam Pal, also mounted on a red granite plinth.

Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian Ambassador to the United States called the vandalism "a crime against humanity".

[2][3] U.S. President Donald Trump called the defacement of Mahatma Gandhi's statue a "disgrace".