State Land Board Chairman William Aila said he will seek fines against two people who damaged a front door of Iolani Palace and made their way into the historic building Sunday morning.
"We need to send a strong message to the folks out there that the palace is to be respected," Aila said Monday. "It is a sacred site to many Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians as well."
State law governing historic sites allows for fines of up to $10,000 against anyone who damages a historical or cultural property if a person does so knowingly and intentionally, Aila said.
"It certainly was intentional."
Palace surveillance cameras showed a woman kicking and smashing the glass panes of one of two left-side doors on the front of the palace with enough exertion to force open the door at about 8 a.m. Saturday, palace Executive Director Kippen de Alba Chu said. The woman and a man who was with her then entered the Great Hall of the palace before attempting to flee as palace guards pursued and captured them.
At one point the woman shouted to the guards, "This is my house!"
Police arrested a Hawaii Kai woman, 20, and a man with no address, 30, on suspicion of felony criminal property damage and trespassing. They were released on those charges pending investigation but were held by police on unrelated misdemeanor bench warrants stemming from outstanding citations for violating park closure rules and illegal placement of tents in parks, according to Dave Koga, a spokesman for the city prosecutor’s office.
The two appeared in Honolulu District Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to those charges. They were credited for time served and set free.
The man and woman, who told palace guards they are married, have not been charged. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser typically does not identify people who have not been charged.
Michelle Yu, Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman, said the city is continuing to investigate the criminal trespassing and property damage cases against the pair.
The Facebook pages of both suspects show photos of the two posing on the grounds and even taking part in a palace tour Dec. 15.
THE PALACE door damaged Saturday was original, and the glass was transported from England to San Francisco, where its design was etched in time for it to be part of the finished palace when it opened as King David Kalakaua’s home for the Hawaiian monarchy in 1882.
Because of special tinting installed in 2012 primarily to protect against wind damage from hurricanes, the glass cracked but, for the most part, did not break off, leaving instead a spider-web design. Bits of glass did end up on the hall carpet, said de Alba Chu, who described the damage as "irreparable."
The woman initially tried to kick in the glass of the two main doors, but both were too firm for her to break because they are not originals, but replacements that were installed following two incidents that occurred on the same day in February 1984, de Alba Chu said.
One of the two glass panels destroyed in 1984 was an original, while the other was a replica following an earlier incident of vandalism, he said. The replacement panes were not installed until four years later because of the difficulty in locating firms able to do acid etching with the intricate designs commissioned by Kalakaua in the late 19th century.
A Hawaii-based company attempted to replicate the glass panels but could not complete the task, and the job was left to a company in California that charged the palace $15,000.
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Correction: The glass for the ‘Iolani Palace doors was transported from England in 1882. An earlier version of this story said it was "flown" from England.
