Vandalized Hollywood sign briefly reads 'HOLLYWeeD'

LOS ANGELES -- No, Los Angeles residents, it wasn't hangovers playing tricks on you. The Hollywood sign did read "HOLLYWeeD" for a few hours New Year's Day.

Police were investigating after a prankster used giant tarps to turn two of the iconic sign's white Os into Es sometime overnight.

The vandal, dressed in black, was recorded by security cameras and may face a trespassing charge, said Sgt. Robert Payan. The person scaled a fence surrounding the sign above Griffith Park and clambered up each giant letter to drape the coverings, Payan said.

The prank may be a nod to California voters' approval in November of Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Hikers and tourists in the hills spent the morning snapping photos of themselves in front of the altered sign before park rangers began removing the tarps.

"It's kind of cool being here at the moment," Bruce Quinn told KABC-TV. "I thought we came to see the Hollywood sign, not the' Hollyweed' sign. But hey it's OK with me!"

While attention-grabbing, the prank was not exactly original. Forty-one years ago to the day -- Jan. 1, 1976 -- a college student similarly altered the sign, using curtains to make it read "HOLLYWEED."