Olsen conducted his own investigation, traveling Beverly Boulevard from La Cienega Boulevard to La Brea Avenue. Thinking the paintballs might have been the work of teenage troublemakers, he looked for other defaced billboards. He didn't find any.

Sign operators at Clearview Media filed a police report on the first defacement in late July, and authorities said the crime is being investigated as felony vandalism. So far, detectives have no leads.

Olsen decided he had to stand up for himself and Laughlin. But he also wanted to make a statement: We belong here.

So Olsen connected with Ochoa, a friend of a friend, who had also passed the billboard many times on his way to work. Olsen wanted Ochoa to find an artistic way to depict diversity without covering up the old image entirely. He wanted whoever vandalized the billboard to see some paint spots left behind as reminders.

As a Latino artist, Ochoa said he is part of two groups that are often discriminated against, so he was enthusiastic about the project. The Silver Lake resident said he used the paint drippings as a canvas and tried to layer them into his images. He chose mostly black and white paint for a design he called "bold and simple" and tried to include lots of religious symbols so as "not to leave anyone out."

Then he painted a globe on top of the photo of the two hosts and made it appear as though they were hugging the world instead of wrestling for the microphone. A close inspection reveals a few streaks of white paint that didn't get incorporated into the design.

"It's almost like my holiday card to my community," Olsen said.

The billboard has gone weeks without damage, but Olsen remains on edge.

On a recent afternoon, as the radio hosts posed for pictures in front of the sign, the scene attracted some curious looks and a few hard stares.

Olsen grinned wide for the camera.

"I want the person who did this," he said, "to walk by and see that I made it better."

matt.stevens@latimes.com