A pair of climate activists were indicted Thursday, accused of pouring red powder on the display case protecting the Constitution inside the rotunda of the National Archives in D.C.

Donald Zepeda, 35, of Maryland, and Jackson Green, 27, of Utah, are charged with felony destruction of government property. On Valentine’s Day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said, the two poured red powder on the display case covering the U.S. Constitution. Clean-up efforts following the stunt have already cost more than $50,000, prosecutors said in their release Friday, and the rotunda of the National Archives was closed for four days following the incident.

No damage was done to the Constitution itself, the National Archives said in a release.

The two men are members of the Declare Emergency group, which said in a statement that the actions were “taken on Valentine’s Day out of love and respect for our fellow citizens whose constitutional rights to fresh air, clean water and healthy food are currently being stolen by our government’s great failure to tell the truth about the pending Earth’s climate system collapse.”

Mr. Zepeda and Mr. Green have previous experience in climate protests. Mr. Zepeda was caught on video, uploaded to X by News2Share, being carried away after blocking traffic on the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Feb. 13.

Mr. Green, prosecutors said, had previously been charged with another act of vandalism at the National Gallery of Art on Nov. 14, 2023. As a result, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Mr. Green to stay away from D.C. and from all U.S. museums and public monuments, USAO-DC said.

Authorities did not say what punishment or fine Mr. Zepeda and Mr. Green would face if they were found guilty.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.