Opinion: Taking out frustration over Donald Trump on his sidewalk star

We here on The Times’ editorial board don’t condone acts of vandalism, even those that serve to send a political message with which we agree. That said, I can’t help but be impressed with the lengths to which one man went to deface Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this morning.

Just before dawn, authorities say, a man clad in construction garb went after the Republican presidential candidate’s star with a pickaxe and sledgehammer. This being Hollywood, there’s a video of the destruction, though it doesn’t give a clear shot of the vandal’s face. (There’s also a surveillance video, which may.) The man said in an interview with The Times that he had planned to auction off the star and use the proceeds to help the women who accused Trump of sexual abuse. Now Otis, who first identified himself to Deadline Hollywood, aims to auction the pieces he was able to take.

This is the not the first time someone has used the star to vent their frustration with the outrageously offensive presidential candidate. Since the Donald Trump star was installed in 2007 near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, it has been spray painted and marked up with insults. Folks have left garbage on it, and some industrious person or persons built a miniature border wall around the star (although it’s possible that last one might have been an homage to Trump’s extreme immigration policy rather than a criticism).

Never has the Trump star been so badly damaged that it needed replacing. Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said it will cost thousands to repair the site and replace the star. Workers were dispatched Wednesday morning to restore the tribute and to send a message that messing with the Hollywood stars will not be tolerated. Good for them.

The repaired star will be covered for a few days while it “seasons.” And if it were me, I’d perhaps hold off on the re-unveiling of the Donald Trump star until Nov. 9. The man does drive people to violent extremes. Even three middle-aged suburban moms in Maine were induced to steal Trump property (in their case, several dozen campaign signs). One of the sign-removing women wrote about it in a Washington Post op-ed piece and explained she was so fed up with Trump’s “predatory behavior toward women” that she just snapped.

Look, I get it. I also feel like smashing things when Trump says something obviously and demonstrably not true. And that is often. But vandalism is wrong, even — and let’s be honest here — when it feels a tiny bit right.

Besides, it doesn’t quite make sense to remove Trump’s name from Hollywood Boulevard. He might not belong in the White House. But here, among the legendary entertainers who also portrayed loudmouths, louts, creeps and cretins on screen, Trump is right at home.

mariel.garza@latimes.com

Follow me @marielgarzaLAT