Stars go away during Walk of Fame rehab

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Construction along Hollywood's famed Vine Street has forced dozens of stars -- Walk of Fame markers anyway -- to go into seclusion during the rehab project.

Markers for Charlton Heston, Jane Wyman, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra and 55 other celebrities were missing Wednesday from the Walk of Fame in the 1600 block of Vine Street, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. They were removed from a half-block section of sidewalk as crews began a $500 million luxury project near the intersection of Vine and Hollywood Boulevard.

"They're gone!" Hollywood security guard Lillian Price said. "The stars are gone -- they're missing in action!"

The 61 stars are in storage near downtown Los Angeles, project coordinators said and will return to Vine Street in 2009.

Activists countered the stars should have been accommodated during the project.

Johnny Grant, Hollywood's honorary mayor and a leader of the non-profit group that operates the Walk of Fame, said he will ask Los Angeles officials to devise a way to display the stored stars.

"They should be on display somewhere near the building at Hollywood and Vine," Grant said.