--- description: The new year has brought with it a new look for the iconic "Hollywood" sign: The Los Angeles landmark was altered to read "Hollyweed" title: Someone Changed the Iconic Hollywood Sign to Say 'Hollyweed' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3ad98c5cf61874/6988b43886f68e59fb6e30c0/hollywood-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [cities](/tag/cities/) ## cities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Someone Changed the Iconic Hollywood Sign to Say 'Hollyweed' by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:51 PM CUTPublished: Jan 1, 2017 4:40 PM CUT  The Hollywood sign is seen vandalized on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. The Hollywood sign is seen vandalized on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.Damian Dovarganes—AP by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:51 PM CUTPublished: Jan 1, 2017 4:40 PM CUT The new year has brought with it a new look for the iconic “[Hollywood](http://time.com/3947945/hollywood-sign-history/ "undefined")” sign: The Los Angeles landmark was altered to read “[Hollyweed](http://abc7.com/news/hollywood-sign-altered-to-hollyweed-in-apparent-nye-prank/1681507/ "undefined")” as of Sunday morning. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood division confirmed to a local ABC affiliate that it was aware of the vandalism and had dispatched officers to investigate. Amused onlookers posted photos of the sign on social media. The sign was returned to its normal appearance a few hours later, the Associated Press reported. Prankster Danny Finegood famously altered the sign with curtains to read “Hollyweed” in 1976, among other word games over the years, such as “Ollywood” to protest Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearingsm and “Oil War” during the Persian Gulf War, the [L.A. ](http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/27/local/me-finegood27 "undefined")[_Times_](http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/27/local/me-finegood27 "undefined")reports. Finegood died in 2007. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4620046/hollywood-sign-hollyweed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4620046/hollywood-sign-hollyweed/"},"headline":"Someone Changed the Iconic Hollywood Sign to Say 'Hollyweed'","datePublished":"2017-01-01T16:40:42.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T23:51:02.000Z","description":"Police are investigating","url":"https://time.com/4620046/hollywood-sign-hollyweed/","keywords":["cities","movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3ad98c5cf61874/6988b43886f68e59fb6e30c0/hollywood-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3ad98c5cf61874/6988b43886f68e59fb6e30c0/hollywood-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hollywood Sign Vandalized","caption":"Hollywood Sign Vandalized","creditText":"Damian Dovarganes—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cities/","name":"cities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4620046/hollywood-sign-hollyweed/","name":"Someone Changed the Iconic Hollywood Sign to Say 'Hollyweed'"}}]}] ```