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US President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed early Wednesday morning by a man with a pickax, police said.
About 3.30am, officers received a call about the vandalism, and soon after found the pink terrazzo star, which Mr Trump received in January 2007 for his NBC show The Apprentice, broken into pieces, said Officer Ray Brown, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The suspect had pulled a pickaxe out of a guitar case, smashed the star in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard, near Highland Avenue and then walked away, leaving the tool at the scene, according to NBC.
The suspect’s actions were caught on surveillance video, and soon after, he turned himself in to the police, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame, said in a statement.
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Brown confirmed that the suspect was being held in custody, but would not disclose the man’s identity. The Hollywood Historic Trust will seek to repair the star, and in the process, it will be covered up for a few days, according to the chamber of commerce.
To get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, people must apply to the Chamber of Commerce, and demonstrate success or talent in the entertainment world. If selected, they pay $30,000, part of which goes to the Hollywood Historic Trust, and part of which covers the installation of the star. An estimate of the cost of the repairs was not immediately available.
Repeated vandalism
This is the not the first time the star has been vandalised. A man attempted to remove the star by smashing it with a pickaxe and sledgehammer in October 2016 and pleaded no contest to felony vandalism in February 2017. He agreed to pay $4,400 for the damage, and was sentenced to three years’ probation and 20 days of community service.
In 2016, an artist built a six-inch “wall” around the symbol, with razor wire and “Keep Out” signs. At other times, people have smeared ketchup on the star, painted it purple or decorated it with a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker. Mr Trump’s star is not the only one that has been vandalised in recent years.
In December 2014, someone wrote “rapist” in marker three times on Bill Cosby’s star. In 2015, a petition sought to have the Chamber of Commerce remove Cosby’s star in light of allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The chamber rejected the request, saying that the Walk is historically preserved.
Despite protesters’ actions, a star has never been removed from the Walk of Fame. “The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees,” said Leron Gubler, president and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce.
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalise a California state landmark,” Gubler said of Wednesday’s incident. – New York Times