Trump star vandal arrested for Marilyn statue theft in Hollywood

The "Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo" is seen on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, June 18, 2019. Robyn Beck / AFP.

LOS ANGELES (AFP).- A man convicted of vandalizing President Donald Trump's sidewalk star in Hollywood last summer has been arrested for stealing a statue of Marilyn Monroe from a nearby monument.

Austin Clay, 25, was identified by police from video surveillance footage. Having discovered that he was on parole after a conviction for damaging Trump's star on the famous Hollywood "Walk of Fame," investigators searched his home Friday. According to local media reports, they found evidence linking him to the theft of the statue.

The statue itself -- showing Monroe in her famous flying skirt pose from "The Seven Year Itch" (1955) -- has not been found.

It had been perched atop a small gazebo at the beginning of the "Walk of Fame", part of a monument dedicated to Hollywood's most famous actresses. According to authorities, a witness saw a man climbing the structure on the night of June 16 and using a saw to remove the statue.

Police fear the statue may have been damaged during the theft. "Looking back at the (security) video, it would be reasonable that the statue broke and could be in multiple pieces," LAPD detective Douglas Oldfield told NBC4 television. The suspect was arrested and detained over the weekend.

Clay made headlines in July 2018 when he vandalized Trump's star on the Hollywood sidewalk with a pickaxe he had hidden in a guitar case. He was sentenced at the time to one day in prison, three years' probation and 20 days of community service, and ordered to attend psychological counselling.

© Agence France-Presse
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London gallery chief quits after Israel spyware report

In this file photo taken on November 4, 2018, Hans Ulrich Obrist (L) and Yana Peel attend the 2019 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. The head of London's Serpentine Galleries, Yana Peel, resigned on June 18, 2019 following a newspaper report about her links to a controversial Israeli spyware firm. Miikka Skaffari / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP.

LONDON (AFP).- The head of London's Serpentine Galleries, Yana Peel, resigned on Tuesday following a newspaper report about her links to a controversial Israeli spyware firm.

The board of trustees of the contemporary art galleries announced "with a mix of gratitude and regret" that it has accepted Peel's resignation, adding that she would be "sorely missed". In a separate statement carried by The Guardian newspaper, Peel referenced a "concerted lobbying campaign against my husband's recent investment".

The Guardian reported last week that Yana Peel co-owns NSO Group, a spyware company based in the Israeli seaside high-tech hub of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. It has faced questions over its Pegasus software, which can reportedly switch on a target's cell phone camera and microphone, and access data on it, effectively turning the phone into a pocket spy. Security researchers believe it was used in an attack on the WhatsApp messaging app in May.

The company has also been forced to deny it was used against Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi before he was killed last October in Istanbul. "The work of the Serpentine -- and its incomparable artistic director -- cannot be allowed to be undermined by misguided personal attacks on me and my family," Peel said, according to the statement. "These attacks are based upon inaccurate media reports now subject to legal complaints."

Peel said she was saddened to leave the role, which she started in 2016, adding: "The world of art is about free expression. "But it is not about bullying and intimidation. I welcome debate and discussion about the realities of life in the digital age.

"There is a place for these debates, but they should be constructive, fair and factual -- not based upon toxic personal attacks."

© Agence France-Presse

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