Washington (CNN) There is a gaping hole in this story: A sinkhole has appeared steps from the entrance to the White House briefing room.

Eyewitnesses first saw the sinkhole on the grassy North Lawn on Saturday, following a week of nearly constant rain in Washington. While the hole is behind a stretch of wrought iron fence inaccessible to pedestrian foot traffic, it was contained with yellow caution tape and two orange cones. On Tuesday afternoon, a National Park Service ranger covered the hole with a piece of green plywood ahead of a thunderstorm.

"The National Park Service has been monitoring the situation and is bringing in some additional experts to help best determine a remedy," National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said in a statement.

"Sinkholes, like this one, are common occurrences in the Washington area following heavy rain like the DC metro area has experienced in the last week. We do not believe it poses any risk to the White House or is representative of a larger problem," she added.

The geology of the White House doesn't naturally lend itself to sinkholes, per expert Terry West, a professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences and civil engineering at Purdue University.

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