UPDATE 3:59 PM: The star will be repaired immediately, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce confirms, reported by EW.
“The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees,” Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “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.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed with a sledgehammer early Wednesday morning, Deadline Hollywood reports.
A man dressed as a city construction worker, who identified himself as Jamie Otis, was behind the attack, which happened around 5:45 a.m. on Hollywood Boulevard.
WATCH: Vandal intended to auction off Donald Trump Walk of Fame star to support abused women
WATCH: Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star under repair
Otis tells Deadline Hollywood that he originally intended to remove Trump’s star. He says he wanted to auction it off to raise funds for the 11 women accusing the presidential candidate of groping them. Trump has denied the groping allegations.
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Trump’s star on the Walk of Fame was awarded to him in 2007, recognizing his work on NBC series The Apprentice.
Back in April, his star was vandalized with a swastika, which sparked rumours that it would be removed from the Walk of Fame, but the organization’s president, Leron Gubler, said at the time that the rumours were untrue.
WATCH: Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is being vandalized up to three times daily, according to a report.
“The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a registered historic landmark,” he said. “Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk.”
The 70-year-old Republican candidate’s tile is regularly defaced with spray paint and graffiti, and a street artist even built a wall around the star over the summer to represent his views on immigration.
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The new vandalism comes a little over a week after a North Carolina GOP campaign office was firebombed and hateful rhetoric threats were spray-painted on its walls.
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