Hollywood sign to get new security measures

Los Angeles, Jan 3 (IANS) The Hollywood Sign Trust, the non-profit organisation that oversees maintenance for the landmark here, is looking to improve its security after someone turned the Hollywood sign into "Hollyweed".

The prank took place in the early hours of January 1 when somebody climbed the Santa Monica Mountains and changed the iconic sign to "Hollyweed".

"The Hollywood Sign surveillance system is constantly evolving but an incident like the one that occurred early Sunday morning shows us where there are opportunities to make improvements," Chris Baumgart, chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, told hollywoodreporter.com.

"The new year's prank was no exception and we will be deploying additional technology to tighten up surveillance and thus deter unwanted visitors in the future," said Baumgart.

"This is more than preventing pranks or trespassing at the sign. Our concern is the safety of the neighbourhood and the trespassers that put themselves at risk because it is extremely unsafe to be on the sign, let alone traversing the treacherous hillside that is home to those nine famous letters," he added.

On Sunday, while people were ringing in 2017, an unknown person managed to hang white and black tarps over the "O" letters on the landmark. The individual or individuals responsible committed a trespassing violation, Los Angeles police officer Mike Lopez said. But there has been no arrest made or the suspect publicly identified.

The sign is currently watched over by a security camera system that is monitored by the Los Angeles Police Department. It was first installed in 1994 and updated several times since.