An image circulated online in June 2026, purportedly showing the Abraham Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial adorned with a traffic cone hat. The claim was that Scottish fans placed the hat on the statue during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
However, the image is fake.
Searches for news reports or credible outlets publishing the image yielded no results. Furthermore, analysis of the image using AI detection tools indicated that it was likely created using artificial intelligence. Visual inconsistencies, such as the lighting on the traffic cone not matching the statue, also suggest digital manipulation.
While this particular image is fabricated, it is worth noting that Scottish fans have a tradition of placing traffic cones on statues, particularly in their home country. For instance, the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow has been adorned with traffic cones for decades, with local authorities often attempting to remove them, only for the cones to be replaced. Reports from Boston, Massachusetts, during the World Cup also mentioned Scottish fans similarly placing cones on local statues, describing it as an act of "tomfoolery."