Los Angeles police arrested a man Friday in connection with the theft of a Marilyn Monroe statue.
According to police, Austin Mikel Clay is accused of climbing the Ladies of Hollywood sculpture and sawing off the statue with a hacksaw. The statue remains missing.
Clay was also arrested last year for vandalizing Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was on felony probation at the time of the statue’s theft.
While investigating the crime, police used surveillance footage, which showed a man climbing down the gazebo before entering the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel with an alleged male accomplice. The pair also met up with another male and female who the police named persons of interest.
The statue once topped the Ladies of Hollywood gazebo at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue – a popular tourist attraction along the Hollywood Walk of Fame – and was reportedly stolen late Sunday night.
In addition to the bronze-colored statue, which showcases Monroe in her windblown dress pose from 1955’s “The Seven Year Itch,” the gazebo also features statues of Mae West, Anna Mae Wong, Dolores Del Rio and Dorothy Dandridge which hold the structure up.
Previously, investigators, including a forensics expert, were investigating fingerprints from the site in search of leads regarding the culprit.