Trump’s Hollywood star vandalised with a pickaxe, man arrested after nearly destroying landmark.
A man with a pickaxe has vandalised United States President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before surrendering to police.
The suspect, 24-year-old Austin Clay, was in custody at the Los Angeles County Jail on a charge of felony vandalism with a bail of $US20,000, jail records showed.
“A pickaxe was used in vandalising the star” embedded in the sidewalk near Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles at about 3:30am local time, LAPD spokesman Sergeant Ray Brown said.
The suspect pulled a pickaxe out of a guitar case before striking Mr Trump’s sidewalk honour, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The star was nearly completely destroyed, and there was graffiti scrawled on it.
As pedestrians walked by the site, in an area popular with tourists, Gregg Donovan, 58, of Los Angeles, stood by with a “Trump 2020” sign, saying he was protecting it from further damage.
“It’s a California landmark,” Mr Donovan said.
“Don’t take your anger out on a tourist landmark.”
Before being elected president, Mr Trump, 72, was a real estate developer-turned-reality TV star who was producer of the NBC show The Apprentice, and the Miss Universe pageants.
Adrian Rodriguez, a 42-year-old Los Angeles schoolteacher, said: “I don’t condone vandalism but I can certainly see the frustration … I’m not for Trump but I disagree with this type of protest.”
Installed in 2007, Trump’s star has been frequently vandalised since he was elected president in 2016.
In 2016, street artist Plastic Jesus placed a tiny wall on the border of Mr Trump’s star in a comment about the President’s border wall and migration policies.
The 15-centimetre-high wall, adorned with American flags in each corner and ringed with barbed wire, also featured the distinctive logo of Los Angeles-based street artist Plastic Jesus.
The artist said he built the tiny wall “to air my opinions about this idea that Trump has about building a wall”.
