US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's staff break Eisenhower's D-Day globe after he demanded it be moved into his office

Aides didn't wait for curators from the US Army Centre of Military History, who were unavailable during a partial government shutdown, and moved the 30-inch globe themselves. They dropped it, and its own base punched a hole through the shell near Antarctica. The February blunder left the pre-war artefact still broken months later. A Department of War spokesman shrugged that 'accidents happen'.

The Pentagon now insists the smashed item was a 'replica' and is being repaired.

Army officials admitted the sphere was 'detached from the metal mounting' that lets it rotate.

A display sign says Dwight D Eisenhower first used it in 1942, while running war plans.