What Some Jokester Changed The Hollywood Sign To

New Years is usually a time for people to cut loose and get a little crazy. Champagne gets flowing, kisses are shared, and general debauchery can happen pretty easily. But while most of us get into "trouble" by staying up past our bed time and taking an uber home, others take things to an entirely different level. And everyone in the Los Angeles area surely discovered that this morning, as the iconic Hollywood sign was vandalized over the night, surprising locals. With a bit of clever work and sleuthing, the sign was changed to read "Hollyweed". Check it out for yourself.

Who knew that just a few letter changes would completely change the Hollywood Sign? I've got a feeling a scrabble champion may have been the perpetrator in this case of vandalism.

While the Hollywood Sign being defaced would seem like a major issue, the integrity of the landmark wasn't actually tampered with. It may look like panels were added and removed by the vandals, but it was actually far less destructive. Instead of actually changing the structure of the sign, whoever was responsible merely blocked out one quarter of the O's, so that the circle of the letter was no longer completed. Then some white sheets were added in between the letters, and bam! You got yourself two E's. Obviously, this appears far more permanent from afar, but closer examination proves that there wasn't any harm done during the prank.

Of course, having the iconic Hollywood sign essentially endorse the use of marijuana isn't what the city is really going for. As such, some workers were deployed to repair the sign, and restore it to its natural form. This presumably take very long, as the problem was solved by the afternoon (via CBS LA).

I'm interested to know the motivation behind the Hollywood sign change. Considering California recently passed the legalization of recreational marijuana, there are two possible motivations behind messing with the sign. The first is celebration, as California residents can look forward to visiting local dispensaries in order to procure marijuana for something other than medical reasons. This would be a fun of way of celebrating this victory, without actually harming the sign at all.

The flip side is that the tampering with the Hollywood sign was actually a political protest against legalization. Not every California resident voted for the initiative, and it's possible that certain citizens are angry about the situation. This would be a powerful peaceful protest, although we don't know if this is the case.

What do you think of the Hollyweed sign? Sound off in the comments below.