First Published 1 January 2017. The Hollywood Sign (formerly the Hollywoodland Sign), a landmark and American cultural icon located in Los Angeles, California and situated on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains, was changed overnight by pranksters to read ‘Hollyweed’.
Sergeant Trudeau of Security Services says a thrill-seeker climbed the mountain around midnight Saturday/Sunday, New Year’s Eve, and modified the sign that overlooks Hollywood, Los Angeles, by throwing two tarps over the Os to make them appear like Es.
Authorities said the incident was being investigated as misdemeanour trespassing, and police indicated that they plan to review footage and investigate in order to identify those responsible.
The sign is close to the Hollywood Park Casino, though you can also get the best free spins no deposit bonuses at oddschecker.
This is not the first time this has happened to the sign. On January 1st 1976, the sign was also altered to read ‘Hollyweed’, the same day a marijuana law took effect, according to published reports.
California made a decision to legalise marijuana last year.
California State Northridge student Danny Finegood and friends performed the 1976 alteration using a pair of $50 curtains but it is not known who amended the sign this time. Finegood died of multiple myeloma in January 2007 at age 52, and it’s not clear if there is any direct connection between his work and last night’s stunt.
The Cannabist magazine reported last year that Finegood’s prank, made in the same year that California relaxed its marijuana laws, earned him an A grade.
Finegood’s team also amended the sign to read ‘Ollywood’ for Easter 1976 to protest Marine Lt Col Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987 and to ‘Oil War’ during the Persian Gulf War in 1990.
They defended their work against claims that it was vandalism in a letter to The Times in 1983, saying: “We broke no laws and did no damage to the sign.
“An artist’s role throughout history has been to create representations of the culture he exists in. By hanging four relatively small pieces of fabric on the landmark, we were able to change people’s perception of the Hollywood Sign.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation actress Gates McFadden was impressed by how the pranksters braved the elements to amend the sign:
“There is a new sign out my window! How did they do it in the rain?!” she tweeted.
