Pickax-Wielding Vandal Smashes President Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star to Pieces

Donald Trump's Hollywood star was destroyed after a man pulled a pickax from a guitar case near tourist hot-spot Hollywood and Highland, witnesses say

President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a man with a pickax that witnesses say he concealed in a guitar case, police said.

Officers were called around 3:30 a.m. to the star's location on Hollywood Boulevard near Highland Avenue, where they found a small pile of rubble in place of the star that Trump received in January 2007 for his role in the NBC show "The Apprentice."

The star-smashing suspect, who reported the crime to police, later turned himself in to Beverly Hills police after leaving the pickax at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He called police and said, "See you soon," Lt. Karen Leong of the LAPD's Hollywood Division told the Los Angeles Times.

The suspect was identified as Austin Clay, 24, who was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism. His hometown was not immediately available.

Bond was set at $20,000, according to jail records. An initial court date was not indicated in jail records and it was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

Witness David Palmer said he is accustomed to seeing the unusual on Hollywood Boulevard, where tourists mingle with street performers dressed as superheroes and other characters, but he was surprised to see the Walk of Fame vandalism.

"I'm like, 'Why are you hitting that star? What did Donald Trump do to you?'" Palmer told NBC4. "Then he went around the corner and I think he left."