Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star was defaced with a reversed swastika.
On Friday, a Reddit user uploaded the image of the star, located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, with the swastika sprayed on backwards. The star was clean Saturday morning.
The “Apprentice” host received the star in 2007. In September, someone placed a yellow “X” over it. And in December, someone wrote “Rapist” on Bill Cosby‘s star.
Austin Franklin, an actor who spends his days patrolling Hollywood Boulevard dressed as Batman, said he often sees people stomping or pretending to defecate on the star. He was among those who saw the swastika Friday before it was cleaned up.
“I’ve never seen this kind of hate put on a star before, not even Bill Cosby,” Batman told TheWrap.
Some Trump critics have accused him of racism, but there’s no telling what message the person who painted the swastika hoped to convey.
Some Twitter optimists have joked that the vandalism may have been committed by a Buddhist, since the swastika is a symbol in the Hindu and Buddhists faiths long before it was appropriated and corrupted by German Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce oversees the Walk of Fame, and inducts a celebrity approximately 24 times a year. It has been adding stars for more than 50 years.
The Chamber of Commerce and police have not yet responded to request for comment.