President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed by a man with a pickax early Wednesday morning, according to Los Angeles police officer Ray Brown.
Hollywood division officers responded to a call at 3:33 a.m. to the tourist area. LAPD said they have a man in custody and are currently questioning him. According to LAPD, a man turned himself in at the Beverly Hills Police Department Wednesday morning.
Video from a local television station shows tourists taking photos of the defaced star in front of the Hollywood & Highland center, a major tourist spot in Hollywood.
Trump’s star has repeatedly been the target of vandalism and protests since the reality TV star’s turn to politics. In April 2016, a Superman impersonator on Hollywood Boulevard said he had seen visitors make obscene gestures next to the star, deface it with paint, and allow a dog to relieve itself on the landmark.
"People often stomp with anger on the star, others kick their heels over the star, and some spit. The last time, someone put a sticker over the star," Francisco Javier, another street performer who was dressed like Superman, said at the time.
A street artist constructed a tiny wall around Trump’s star in July 2016, and in October of that year, the LAPD arrested a man who they said vandalized the star with a sledgehammer and a pickax.
