‘Hollyweed’ prankster turns himself in, brands stunt ‘a tribute’

The man behind the New Year’s Day prank that saw the iconic Hollywood sign changed to read ‘Hollyweed’ has been arrested in Los Angeles.

Zachary Cole Fernandez was arrested Monday on suspicion of trespassing, a week after he tampered with the Hollywood sign, making headlines around the world.

The artist handed himself into the Los Angeles Police Department and was accompanied by his attorney. He was booked for a misdemeanor trespassing and released on $1,000 bail soon after. He will face court on February 15.

Fernandez had already admitted to Vice that he was behind the prank, explaining that he and creative partner and former wife Sarah Fern did it after being inspired by the original Hollyweed sign, which was created by Danny Finegood in 1976 – after California had relaxed its marijuana laws.

To honor the late Finegood, Fernandez signed his own Hollyweed efforts with “a tribute to Mr. Finegood.”

The job took two hours to do and involved Fernandez using ropes to get around the high letters to clip sheets of fabric, altering the sign’s appearance in the process.

“The Hollywood sign has seen many alteration attempts over the years for people seeking notoriety or commercial gain,” Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu said in a statement. “Pranks of this nature deplete the resources of our valuable public safety personnel, in both responding to the prank and in responding to the increased crowds and copycat attempts that these incidents generate.”