Tall buildings, including the Washington Monument, often have lighting rods to attract and route the electricity to the ground to avoid damaging the building, itself.
"The 550-foot Washington Monument was the tallest freestanding structure in the world when it was completed in 1884. Electrical knowledge was still primitive at the time, but the designers knew that some kind of lightning protection system was required when building at that height……Project lead Thomas Lincoln Casey of the Army Corps of Engineers responded by installing a spiked collar for the monument to divert the lightning strikes"
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/washington-monument-lightning-rod