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AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star vandalized days after her death, replacement underway Wed Sep 2 18:44:40 2026

Vandals scratched and stripped flowers from Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star less than a week after the country legend's death, and the organization that maintains the landmark is now fast-tracking a full replacement. A fan reported on August 31 that someone had scratched Parton's star and stolen the floral tributes left by mourners, […] The post Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star vandalized days after her death, replacement underway appeared first on American Almanac .

Vandals scratched and stripped flowers from Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star less than a week after the country legend's death, and the organization that maintains the landmark is now fast-tracking a full replacement. A fan reported on August 31 that someone had scratched Parton's star and stolen the floral tributes left by mourners, Ana Martinez, senior vice president of media and talent relations at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, told TMZ . The star, dedicated in 1984, had already been scheduled for replacement because of existing cracks, but the vandalism turned a routine restoration into something uglier. Parton died August 25 at age 80. In the days that followed, fans lined the Hollywood sidewalk with candles, flowers, and memorabilia. Workers cleared those tributes ahead of the planned replacement work. Then, according to a witness account, a woman kicked candles around the site and used a broken shard from one to scratch the star's surface. A man arrived separately and walked off with the remaining flowers. A blogger and her daughter cleaned up what the vandals left behind Lore Corona, a blogger who posts under the handle @wildsheroams.life, arrived at the star with her daughter on August 31 and found a custodian already trying to clean the damage. Corona posted a video on Threads showing the two of them using shoes to drag towels and wipes across the sidewalk around the defaced star. Corona described the scene in her post: "When we arrived a custodian was cleaning and told us a woman kicked candles around then with the shards of one scratched the star. Then a man came and stole the flowers that were there. He left soon after we got there and we got to work." No arrests have been reported. The identities of both the woman who allegedly scratched the star and the man who allegedly took the flowers remain unknown. Whether the Los Angeles Police Department or any other law enforcement agency is investigating has not been disclosed. That a grieving fan and her daughter had to get on their hands and knees to clean up someone else's vandalism, at a memorial site, days after a beloved figure's death, says something about the state of public order on Hollywood Boulevard. The people who maintain these landmarks should not have to rely on the goodwill of passersby to keep them from being trashed. Parton's passing triggered an outpouring that stretched well beyond Hollywood. The Grand Ole Opry held a star-studded tribute concert in Nashville, and streaming numbers reflected the depth of public feeling. Hollywood Historic Trust pulled the star and started rebuilding by September 1 By September 1, the Hollywood Historic Trust had removed the damaged star entirely. KNX News 1070 AM posted video on X showing a hollow square cut into the sidewalk where the terrazzo-and-brass emblem had been. A few hours later, the Trust shared a photo on Instagram showing a blank red star set into the gap, restoration in progress. The Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement on Instagram announcing the timeline for the fix. "The Hollywood Historic Trust and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce are proud to honor the legacy of Dolly Parton with a replacement of her star. The new star will be available for viewing this Friday." Martinez told ABC 7 in Los Angeles that the star had already been slated for replacement because of pre-existing cracks before the vandalism accelerated the work. The damage, in other words, sped up a job that was already on the books, but it also turned a quiet maintenance project into a public spectacle no one wanted. Fans who had been streaming Parton's music at record-breaking rates since her death now had another reason to feel protective of her legacy. The star had stood on that stretch of Hollywood Boulevard for more than four decades. No suspects, no motive, and no explanation for why tributes were unguarded Several questions remain unanswered. No motive has been offered for either the scratching or the flower theft. No surveillance footage has been publicly released. USA Today reported reaching out to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for additional comment but did not indicate receiving a response beyond Martinez's earlier remarks to other outlets. The incident raises a practical question the Walk of Fame's custodians have faced before: how do you protect 2,700-plus stars embedded in a busy public sidewalk? The answer, apparently, is that you often don't, you fix them after the fact and hope decent people like Lore Corona show up in the meantime. Parton's legacy, at least, is not confined to a single brass-and-terrazzo plaque. Her estate has already announced plans for a "Dollyfest" tribute festival in Nashville and London in 2027, and Tennessee lawmakers have been advancing a plan to rename Nashville's international airport in her honor. A new star will sit in the sidewalk by week's end. The person who scratched the old one is still walking free. One of those facts honors Dolly Parton. The other is a reminder that accountability on Hollywood Boulevard remains as cracked as the slab they just pulled out of the ground. The post Dolly Parton's Hollywood Walk of Fame star vandalized days after her death, replacement underway appeared first on American Almanac .