Dolly Parton’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was found scratched on Monday, just days after the country music legend died last Tuesday at 80. Fans have been gathering at the star since her death, leaving flowers, cards and other tributes in an impromptu memorial along Hollywood Boulevard.
Ana Martinez of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said the star had already been cleared of debris and was scheduled for repairs to existing cracks before the vandalism was discovered. Deep scratches were found cutting directly across Parton’s name on the brass inlay.
Officials with the Hollywood Walk of Fame said they were already working to fix the damage. Video captured by a local news station showed a bare hole in the sidewalk where Parton’s star had sat as repair crews worked to install a replacement.
A visitor to the site who posted about the damage on social media said a custodian told her the scratches happened after a woman kicked around candles that mourners had left at the star, with shards from one of the candles scratching the brass. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” the visitor wrote.
She added that the area has security cameras, noting she expects the person responsible to be identified.
Parton received her first star on the Walk of Fame in 1984. She later became the first female artist of the 21st century, and one of only a handful of performers in history, to be honored with a second star on the famous stretch. In 2018, she joked about the distinction: “I like to do things in pairs, if you know what I mean!”
No arrests have been announced in connection with the damage as of this writing.
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