After a four-month-long Occupy D.C. encampment turned large swaths of McPherson Square into unsightly and barren plots, the National Park Service has started renovating the park, writes the Post:

Workers fenced three sections of the square and posted “No Trespassing” signs as they work to aerate, fertilize and reseed the turf areas. Two flower beds were planted with annuals.

Carol B. Johnson, a spokeswoman for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said that the landscaping work — expected to cost about $7,000 — was necessary because of the damage caused by Occupy D.C. protesters, who pitched tents in October and stayed through early February.

The park was last renovated in 2010, with $400,000 in stimulus funds going to pay for new lighting, benches and grass. Occupiers offered to do some of the work themselves this time around, but were turned down by the National Park Service.

The Occupy D.C. campers were largely evicted in February, and their cohorts at Freedom Plaza recently decamped when their permit expired and the National Park Service chose not to extend it.