The man behind the New Year’s Day prank that saw the iconic Hollywood sign changed to read ‘Hollyweed’ has been arrested in Los Angeles.
Zachary Cole Fernandez was arrested Monday on suspicion of trespassing, a week after he tampered with the Hollywood sign, making headlines around the world.
The artist handed himself into the Los Angeles Police Department and was accompanied by his attorney. He was booked for a misdemeanor trespassing and released on $1,000 bail soon after. He will face court on February 15.
Fernandez had already admitted to Vice that he was behind the prank, explaining that he and creative partner and former wife Sarah Fern did it after being inspired by the original Hollyweed sign, which was created by Danny Finegood in 1976 – after California had relaxed its marijuana laws.
To honor the late Finegood, Fernandez signed his own Hollyweed efforts with “a tribute to Mr. Finegood.”
The job took two hours to do and involved Fernandez using ropes to get around the high letters to clip sheets of fabric, altering the sign’s appearance in the process.
“The Hollywood sign has seen many alteration attempts over the years for people seeking notoriety or commercial gain,” Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu said in a statement. “Pranks of this nature deplete the resources of our valuable public safety personnel, in both responding to the prank and in responding to the increased crowds and copycat attempts that these incidents generate.”
On Monday, the person responsible for changing the  in California to read "Hollyweed" as a new year's prank turned himself in to local authorities. 30-year-old artist Zachary Cole Fernandez surrendered himself, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said.
The Hollywood sign as it normally appears.
According to LAPD, Fernandez went to the police station accompanied by his lawyer, where he confessed to have changed the sign and was bailed out shortly thereafter for US$1000. LAPD charged Fernandez with trespassing; earlier reports indicated vandalism charges were ruled out as he used black and white tarps to alter the letter "O" to read lowercase "e". The sign was not physically damaged. 

A court hearing is scheduled for February 15. Fernandez said this act was an art project, and claimed he faces up to six months in prison if convicted. It took Fernandez two hours to alter the sign. Regarding conviction, he said, "I'm a person of integrity. If I do something wrong, I will own up to it."

Exactly 41 years ago, on the same date in 1976, then-university student Daniel Finegood modified the sign to read "Hollyweed" for an art class assignment. Finegood returned to change the sign again in 1990, spelling out "Oil War" to protest against the First Persian Gulf War. Fernandez, on Tuesday, said his act was to "bring light and positivity and happiness". He said he was inspired by Finegood's modification to the sign.

City Councilman David Ryu said in a statement. "Pranks of this nature deplete the resources of our valuable public safety personnel".

The term "weed" is an English slang term for cannabis, a banned drug in many countries. On November 9, a ballot for legalising recreational use of cannabis in California for the age group of 21 and above was passed. The law legalising recreational cannabis is due to come into effect in 2018.