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Pickax left at scene after vandal smashes President Trump’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Posted at 7:23 AM, Jul 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-25 09:59:17-04

By Eric Levenson and Stella Chan, CNN

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. (6:33 a.m. ET) 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.

CNN has reached out to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for comment.

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.