President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star has been destroyed by a man using a pickaxe.
Hollywood division officers responded to a call at the tourist area and found that Trump’s star has been broken. The pickaxe was found at the scene.
Patricia Cox, a witness, told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS that she saw a man “going to town” on the ground “like it was his business just to be tearing up the ground,” she said. “I thought it was work going on over here.”
Police later arrested Austin Clay, 24, on suspicion of felony vandalism. Brown said Clay did not reveal a motive for the alleged vandalism, and the investigation continues. He’s being held on $20,000 bail.
Video from KCAL/KCBS shows tourists taking photos of the defaced star in front of the Hollywood & Highland center, a major tourist spot in Hollywood.
Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that the Walk of Fame is “an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees.
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark,” Gubler said. “Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”
Los Angeles police said a man is in custody and is being questioned. Police said the man turned himself in Wednesday morning at the Beverly Hills Police Department.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star is being destroyed. The US president’s star has repeatedly been the target of vandalism and protests since the reality TV star went in to politics.
People sometimes deface the star with paint and allow their dog relieve itself on the landmark. Some spit on the star.
As a result, a street artist constructed a tiny wall around Trump’s star in July 2016 but that hasn’t stopped vandals from destroying it.
