A Band Of Pranksters Have Been Arrested After Scaling Steep Terrain To Hilariously Alter Los Angeles’ Iconic ‘Hollywood’ Sign

For nearly a century, the Hollywood sign has loomed over its namesake region of Los Angeles, surviving earthquakes and rabid heat and the ravages of time. But on Monday a group of pranksters tried to change the iconic attraction. According to The Los Angeles Times, the LAPD arrested six people who scaled the steep terrain and changed two of the letters so it read, of course, “Hollyboob.”

It wasn’t just a juvenile joke. (Though it would be okay if it was.) The perpetrators — five men and one woman — said they had done it to raise awareness of breast cancer. They were charged with a misdemeanor for trespassing, not for vandalism. After all, all they had done is put a tarp over two letters, putting “B”s where the “W” and the “D” stand.

The Hollywood sign — which once read “Hollywoodland” — began as a real estate advertising gimmick to sell property in the Hollywood Hills. The “land” part was removed in 1949 as it had evolved from an advertising ploy to a key part of the city’s cultural landscape. It fell into disrepair over the years; one possibly apocryphal story has it that “H” was partially destroyed by the sign’s caretaker during a drunk drive. It was restored in 1978, in part thanks to a campaign by Hills resident Hugh Hefner. And it’s remained intact ever since, until now — or that time on BoJack Horsman that our equine hero stole the “D” as a failed romantic gesture.

(Via The Los Angeles Times)