Holly cow! Sign altered
For the second time in two months, the Hollywood sign has been altered — this time with the image of a cow’s head placed over the first “O.”
Three men in their 20s were arrested Friday on suspicion of hanging the image on the iconic sign, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. In February, six people were arrested after allegedly making the sign read “Hollyboob.”
Capt. Steve Lurie, commander of the LAPD’s Hollywood Division, said police were called just before 11:30 a.m. Friday after the men were spotted in the area around the sign, which is surrounded by Griffith Park but inaccessible to the public and privately maintained by the Hollywood Sign Trust.
“They were caught on surveillance cameras and then arrested, and they’ll be booked at Hollywood Station for misdemeanor trespassing,” Lurie said.
Mark Panatier, the trust’s chairman, called the incident “unfortunate,” and the response by police and park rangers “spectacular.”
“It’s really unfortunate that people want to try to make a statement on the sign. That’s not the purpose of the sign. The sign is the statement for Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles. It’s famous,” Panatier said. “And if you intrude into the space where it is marked that you will be trespassing, you will be caught and prosecuted.”
Lurie did not identify the three suspects, who he said would be released on bail under rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lurie said that the cow sign was removed, and that there was no damage to the letters, which are 50 feet tall and visible from many points around Los Angeles.
Lurie said officers at the scene asked the three alleged trespassers what the point of the cow image was, and they said there was none.
“No political cause whatsoever,” he said.
Two social media influencers associated with the Feb. 1 “Hollyboob” incident said they were sending a message to challenge censorship on Instagram after one of them had her accounts shut down for nudity.
On New Year’s Day 2017, the sign was altered by vandals to read “Hollyweed.”