Members of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's staff dropped a 1930s floor globe linked to Gen Dwight D Eisenhower while attempting to move it into his office. The Pentagon dismissed the damage as 'another inconsequential non-story'.

'Accidents happen, we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired,' a Pentagon official said. The Army confirmed that the damage occurred during an attempted move on 3 February.

The Washington Post published photographs on 22 October showing an inches-wide gash near Antarctica, with fragments scattered on the carpet beneath the globe. The paper said Zeteo had reported aspects of the incident the previous week.

According to people familiar with the matter cited by the Post, Hegseth was interested in the globe's history, and his staff sought to have it moved to his office.

Army staff had planned to consult the US Army Center of Military History about moving it safely. However, the historians had been furloughed during a partial government shutdown, and Hegseth's staff dispatched their own team instead.

The team lost control of the globe and dropped it onto its base, damaging its shell, according to the Post's account.

An Army spokesperson told the newspaper that the damage happened during 'an attempted move' on 3 February. 'The spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate,' the spokesperson said.

The partial shutdown ended that same day. It remains unclear whether Hegseth personally ordered the move or another senior official in his office did.

Two 30-inch floor globes dating to the 1930s are kept at the Pentagon, where successive Army leaders have acted as their custodians.

A plaque beside the damaged globe describes its use by Eisenhower as a 'popular theory'. It links the object to his time heading the War Plans Division in February and March 1942 and the Operations Division between March and June that year.

The second globe stands in the office of the Army chief of staff. According to Army officials cited by the Post, it bears pen marks attributed to Eisenhower and Gen Omar Bradley.

The Pentagon described the damaged item as 'a replica of the Eisenhower globe' but did not explain that description. Army spokesman Christopher Surridge said it was never moved to Hegseth's office.

Dan Lamothe, who co-wrote the Post report with Alex Horton, said on X that the incident had been discussed around the Pentagon for some time. 'Some were mortified. Others made jokes,' he wrote.

Lamothe said one source attributed the decision not to wait for trained historians to a 'lack of patience'. He also said Horton had asked to see and photograph the globe but was refused. The newspaper later obtained photographs separately.

Retired Brigadier General Ty Seidule, a former West Point history professor, criticised the episode. Seidule has previously criticised Hegseth over Confederate names and symbols at military bases.

'Hegseth is no Ike. The globe won't give him Ike's attributes of humility, intellect and judgment,' Seidule said.

A specialist firm's account of moving another Eisenhower globe describes the preparation involved in transporting such an object.

In 2022, Craters & Freighters relocated an Eisenhower globe from Anniston to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. In an account published on its website, the company said it designed and built protective packaging and crating for the journey.

That move involved a different globe from the one damaged at the Pentagon. The company said the object's significance extended beyond its financial value.

The Pentagon says the damaged globe is being repaired. The Post's report did not provide an estimated repair cost or completion date, and it remains unclear who authorised the attempted move.