Just as they’ve been the go-to for super villains for decades, frickin laser beams will help the National Park Service clean mysterious grime off the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Next week, NPS will test the laser ablation process on 1,000 square feet on the memorial’s northeast side, which will have scaffolding but will not affect visitors’ access to the Mall memorial. It’s expected to take about a month, according to an NPS release.

The biofilm, first spotted on the memorial in 2006, is a group of microorganisms that stick to one another and to a surface—in this case, the Jefferson Memorial, most notably the dome. The grime has become more visible in recent years, and a task force was assembled to figure out what to do in 2014.

After a search for the best way to clean off the biofilm began last August, NPS has chosen a Chicago-based conservation firm called Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio, Inc.

NPS points out that laser ablation “offers maximum protection to both the memorial’s cultural and natural resources,” because the lasers can be fine-tuned to a setting some that does not negatively impact the historic marble of the memorial. Additionally, unlike other cleaning options, this one does not involve chemicals that could run off into the Potomac or elsewhere on the National Mall.