Pete Hegseth’s team breaks the priceless historical globe he requested for his post | Pete Hegseth

A priceless pre-World War II globe coveted by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his office at the Pentagon was damaged by his team during a botched attempt to move it, military officials have acknowledged.

Photographs published Thursday by The Washington Post show the broken 30-inch Eisenhower Globe, which is believed to have been used by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president, as he prepared for the D-Day landings as Supreme Allied Commander.

The fragile item was broken when Hegseth’s aides eschewed the services of specialist movers and then abandoned it after deciding they would transport it themselves, the Post said, citing sources familiar with the February incident.

A US military spokesperson, in an email to the newspaper, acknowledged that the damage had occurred during an “attempted relocation”.

“The spherical part of the globe has been detached from the metal support that allows it to rotate,” the spokesperson said.

A photograph shows fragments of the globe beneath its wooden frame on a blue carpet in a hallway. A second shows a gash several centimeters wide at the bottom of the globe, with its base pierced.

According to the Post’s sources, Hegseth took a liking to the globe, one of two similar 1930s-era artifacts housed at the Pentagon, and requested that it be placed in his office.

The defense secretary has a well-known fascination with the history of war and boasts of having instilled a “warrior philosophy” in the U.S. military since his confirmation in January 2025.

The globe’s historical significance appealed to him, the Post report notes, and his aides moved quickly to implement the relocation.

Such was their haste, according to sources, that instead of waiting to hire specialist movers who would have packed the globe with precision and care, they dispatched their own team.

“They lost control of the artifact and dropped it, sending the globe crashing onto its base and impaling the fragile shell near Antarctica,” one of the sources said, blaming an “apparent lack of patience.”

Ultimately, the globe was not moved and is currently under repair.

An account of a successful 2022 move of an Eisenhower Globe, between two military installations in Alabama, appears on the website of moving specialists Craters & Freighters, which highlights the level of expertise and care required for such an undertaking.

“As the globe was considered invaluable, we knew its value was far greater than financial and that our team was heavily relied upon for safe delivery,” the article states, describing how the company precisely designed and constructed protective crates.

A spokesperson for the “War Department”, as the US Department of Defense renamed itself during Donald Trump’s second term, denied the significance of the incident in a statement to the Guardian.

“An accident occurred while staff were transporting a replica of Eisenhower’s globe as part of their move,” the official’s statement said.

“Accidents happen, we’re grateful no one was hurt and the world is being repaired. It’s no surprise that The Washington Post is once again devoting time to another inconsequential story.”