Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star 'attacked with sledgehammer'

Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been vandalised after reportedly being attacked by a man wielding a sledgehammer.

Police in Los Angeles said a man dressed as a construction worker used the tool to smash the pavement monument, completely removing Mr Trump's name from the surface.

James Lambert Otis, who has been charged in connection with the incident, released a video to US entertainment news site TMZ to explain "the point of the exercise".

He said he had intended to remove the star to auction and raise funds for women who have accused the Republican presidential candidate of sexual assault.

While Otis failed to take out the entire star because the concrete was "very strong" and it would have been "too difficult", he did get "the emblem and his entire name".

He said Mr Trump, who has vehemently denied the allegations against him , did not deserve the star.

The billionaire businessman was taking time out from campaigning to promote his new Trump International hotel in Washington DC when news of the vandalism emerged.

His was the 2,327th Hollywood star on the famous boulevard, set in stone in 2007 for his work on the American version of The Apprentice.

It is not the first time the symbol has been vandalised, with repeated attacks in recent months following the tycoon's controversial comments about banning Muslims from entering the US and building a wall on the US-Mexico border.

In July, a British artist known as Plastic Jesus installed a mini-wall around the star, topped with razor wire, miniature US flags and Keep Out signs.

Crews have already repaired the damage following the latest attack.