On January 1st, 2017, many residents and tourist of the Los Angeles, started the new year looking at something a little different than what they’re used to.

The famous Hollywood sign was transformed into reading “Hollyweed”.  According to Carma Hassan, from CNN, the sign stayed like that until nearly 11 a.m. on New Year’s day.  Zachary Cole Fernandez was the local artist that is behind changing the well-known tourist attraction.  He draped black tarps on the 45 foot O’s to convert them to E’s.  Hassan altered the landmark, because California legalized recreational marijuana on November 8th.

This wasn’t the first time the Hollywood sign has been molded into other words.  According to Valerie J. Nelson’s Los Angeles Times’ 2007 Article, Daniel N. Finegood had an exciting time changing the sign multiple times back in the day.  In 1976, on January 1st, Finegood hung curtain to make the sign read “Hollyweed”, because California made a law to relax the use of marijuana.  His second prank happened in 1987 to say “Ollywood” to protest the hero worship of Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings.  And for his third and final masterpiece, Finegood sculpted the sign to express “Oil War” to make a political statement toward the Persian Gulf War, in 1990.  Nobody can say that  Zachary Cole Fernandez got his idea from Finegood, but there was maybe a huge influence in his work.

Fernandez turned himself into the Los Angeles police on January 9th.  He admitted to executing the prank to Vice magazine.  He was charged on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing.

“Hollyweed” was a fun prank that took a lot of work. History has seemed to keep repeating itself, so Hollywood residents might wake up to a different greeting in a couple of years.