Dolly Parton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Vandalized Just One Week After Her Death

Grief has a way of turning public spaces into makeshift shrines, and that’s exactly what happened along Hollywood Boulevard over the past week. Fans have been gathering at a specific sidewalk marker since news broke of Dolly Parton’s passing, leaving flowers, cards, and handwritten tributes to the country icon who first received her star back in 1984.

That outpouring of love made what happened next all the more jarring for the people who came to pay their respects. Parton, 80, died from cancer on August 25 during a brief hospitalization in Nashville, and her death drew tributes from figures ranging from actor Jane Fonda to her own goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, who wrote on Instagram that her heart breaks for the world and everyone who will miss Parton deeply.

Now, just one week after her passing, Dolly Parton’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been vandalized, with her name scratched off the marker and the surrounding flowers reportedly stolen as well. Repairs on the damaged star are already underway.

According to Ana Martinez of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the star had already been cracked and scheduled for previously planned repair work through the Hollywood Historic Trust, which maintains the sidewalk markers. The area had reportedly been cleared to make way for that scheduled fix when someone vandalized the star before the work could begin.

A fan named Lore Corona posted video to social media Monday capturing the damage, explaining that she and her daughters had come to leave flowers only to discover the star already defaced. She said a custodian on scene told her a woman had kicked around candles left at the memorial, then used the shards of one to scratch across Parton’s name, with a man later coming by to steal the remaining flowers.

Video footage from the scene showed extensive scratch marks running across the star, leaving Parton’s name largely illegible before crews arrived to begin repairs. No suspects have been publicly identified in connection with the vandalism at this time.

Rather than simply patching over the damage, the Hollywood Historic Trust confirmed it will be replacing Parton’s star entirely, writing that the organization is proud to honor her legacy with a full replacement rather than a partial repair. The new star is expected to be available for public viewing later this week.

The timing adds a painful layer to an already difficult week for Parton’s fanbase, who watched tributes pour in from across the entertainment world following her death, including a flag-lowering order at federal buildings and a performance of her song “9 to 5” during the Changing of the Guard ceremony in London. Her career included an honorary Academy Award, eleven Grammy Awards, and her 2022 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Vandalism targeting Walk of Fame stars isn’t unprecedented, with markers belonging to other celebrities having been defaced under very different circumstances in the past. What makes this incident sting differently for fans is the timing, striking a beloved figure’s memorial while mourners were still actively gathering to honor her.

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