Dolly Parton’s original Hollywood Walk of Fame star, dedicated in 1984 at 6712 Hollywood Blvd., was found scratched across her name the night of Monday, Aug. 31 into Sept. 1, 2026 — about a week after she died on Aug. 25 at age 80 following a brief battle with cancer. The star already had pre-existing cracks and weather damage, separate from the new scratches, and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Historic Trust had already scheduled repair work for that Tuesday before the vandalism was even reported. In the days after her death, fans had been leaving flowers and candles at the star, turning it into an informal memorial.
A fan visiting the star with her daughters to leave flowers found and photographed the damage, then posted it on social media. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce reviewed that photo. Spokesperson Ana Martinez, who described numerous scratches across the surface, said “it does appear the star was vandalized with scratches.”
What exactly happened beyond that is less certain. The fan, Lore Corona, said an on-site custodian told her what happened. According to that secondhand account, a woman kicked over memorial candles that mourners had left at the star and used a shard from one of the broken candles to scratch it. Separately, a man is said to have taken flowers left at the site. That account has not been independently confirmed. The Chamber of Commerce has verified only that scratches are visible in the photo, and no law-enforcement statement or footage has confirmed it either. Corona said in her video that the damage appeared to have happened shortly before she and her daughters arrived.
No suspect has been identified, and no arrest or charge had been reported as of Sept. 2, 2026. Whether a formal police investigation is even open is unclear: NBC4 said it asked law enforcement about the case and got no confirmation that one exists.
The Hollywood Historic Trust, which maintains and repairs the stars, sent crews to begin replacing Parton’s star on Sept. 1 and 2. That work is finished: the Trust said the restored star was completed and reopened for public viewing before the weekend, on schedule for Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. The Trust said the restoration had been planned before the vandalism and was moved up after Parton’s death to honor her.
The damaged star is Parton’s original solo star, not the second star she was awarded in 2018 alongside her Trio bandmates Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, and not her separate star on the unrelated Nashville Music City Walk of Fame.