US leaders are dropping charges against former Olympian David Hearn. He was accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. Investigators found the damage was caused by bad installation work.

It was not vandalism. Court papers say a contractor called Atlantic Industrial Coatings did the installation.

Prosecutors said the contractor rushed to finish before America's 250th anniversary events. The Justice Department said the Interior Department held back key evidence in the case.

Hearn's lawyers called the case an abuse of government power. They said the administration owes him an apology.

Hearn is 67 years old. He said National Guard troops and Park Police detained him for five hours.

This happened after he touched a loose piece of the pool's coating during a bike ride on June 19. Three other people were separately charged with removing paint pieces from the site.

They are Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby, and Justin Carreno. President Trump had repeatedly accused vandals of damaging the pool.

He called the pool update one of several renovations he ordered in Washington, D.C. These renovations were meant to prepare for America's 250th birthday celebrations. The new finding contradicts Trump's earlier claims of vandalism.