Police arrest man claiming responsibility for vandalizing Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Police arrested a man who has claimed responsibility for vandalizing President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the person who vandalized Trump’s star early Wednesday morning later turned himself in at the Beverly Hills police headquarters. 

Multiple people — including police — tell me a man walked up with a guitar case and pulled out the pick axe. Then, it’s believed, he called police himself to report it, but left the scene before they got here. Now, he’s nowhere to be found. @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/mJNh1dbO0J

— Jonathan Gonzalez (@JonathanNBCLA) July 25, 2018

The suspect was identified by Los Angeles Police as Austin Clay. The newspaper said Clay was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism and is being held on $20,000 bail.

Clay called the police right after damaging the plaque, according to the article. Lt. Karen Leong of the Los Angeles Police Department’ s Hollywood Division told the newspaper that the man “called police and advised he had vandalized Donald Trump’s star and basically called on himself and said, ‘See you soon.’”

{mosads}

About an hour after vandalizing the star, Clay walked into Beverly Hills police headquarters, where he identified himself, the newspaper reported. He was then taken into custody.

The incident isn’t the first time Trump’s Hollywood star has been vandalized. The star, which Trump received in 2007 for his role on NBC’s “The Apprentice,” was defaced with spray paint in 2016.

Later, a month before the 2016 presidential election, a man used a pickaxe and sledgehammer to smash the star. The man responsible for that damage pleaded no contest to felony vandalism in February 2017.