Trump’s Walk of Fame star vandalised with faeces

Sledgehammers, pickaxes, jackhammers previously used to deface star

President Donald Trump‘s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has once again been vandalised, this time with black paint and faeces.

The letters “BLM” — presumably representing “Black Lives Matter“ — were tagged nearby, though the individual who vandalised the star was not identified and it was not clear whether the two instances of vandalism were carried out by the same person.

Mr Trump, ever the lightning rod for criticism, has most recently faced fury for his heavy-handed, “law and order” response to the George Floyd protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

More than 50,000 people participated in a protest march down Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday night.

Mr Trump’s Hollywood star has been a frequent target of vandalism.

In 2018, a man took a jackhammer to the star, leaving the Hollywood icon a pile of dust and rubble. It has twice been destroyed through the use of a pickaxe, once with a sledgehammer and once a man painted it over with a swastika.

During another incident — one that did not leave the star destroyed or defaced, only disrespected — comedian George Lopez was photographed pretending to urinate on the star.

Hollywood’s Chamber of Commerce has tried to stop the destruction of the star, blocking it with wooden planks for a time and later securing a pair of Los Angeles Police Department officers to conduct foot patrols in the area of the star to watch for vandals.

Previous vandals who destroyed or defaced the star were given stiff penalties.

James Otis, who once destroyed the star with a pickaxe, was sentenced to three years of formal probation and 20 days of work for the state’s Department of Transportation. Otis was also made to pay $4,000 between the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, the president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Leron Gubler asked for critics of Mr Trump to express their anger in a less destructive way.

“The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees,” Mr Gubler said. “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. Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”