WASHINGTON - The Lincoln Memorial was briefly closed Saturday morning on the eve of its centennial anniversary festivities after a graduation celebration left the most visited site on the National Mall a bit of a mess, the National Park Service said. 

"The Lincoln Memorial is closed this morning following a local university graduation celebration that left litter, broken bottles and spilled wine and champagne covering the steps," the park service said in a tweet shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday. "We will reopen as soon as the area has been cleaned and made safe."

The park service did not name the university or the event, but at about 11:30 a.m. added: "Thanks to our facilities staff for the quick clean up this morning. The Lincoln Memorial is open. We appreciate your patience."

The iconic marble shrine to the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, was dedicated on May 30, 1922. The 100th anniversary of the dedication has been the subject of a month-long series of events.

The schedule includes a free public ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday hosted by the Lincoln Group of DC, in partnership with the National Park Service to highlight in word and music the memorial's meaning to American society over the decades.

Ceremony participants will include Lincoln scholars Harold Holzer and Edna Greene Medford, Tuskegee University president Charlotte Morris, actor Steven Lang, performer Felicia Curry and a U.S. Marine Corps quintet.

The Lincoln Memorial, inspired by the Greek Parthenon, has become a gathering place for Americans over the years, a backdrop for national celebrations, and "the foremost place for people to gather or assemble or speak their mind to the government," NPS spokesman Mike Litterst said, "So, to have an event here, especially after two years of reduced visitation or people not traveling, it seems altogether fitting and proper in more ways than one."