(Fixes typo in 2nd paragraph)
By Omar Younis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles landmark Hollywood sign was temporarily altered to read “Rams House” on Wednesday in celebration of the hometown team’s victory in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Crews had been working since Monday to cover the 50-foot-high (15.2-m) white letters sitting atop the city’s Mount Lee, where a version of the iconic sign overlooking Southern California’s film-and-television hub was first erected in 1923.
By early Wednesday the new phrase could be seen for miles around, but not everyone thought the alteration worked.
“I think they haven’t done the best job,” said Los Angeles resident Suzanne Pye.
“A couple of years ago, when they legalized marijuana here, two people snuck up in the middle of the night and changed it to Hollyweed,” Pye said, referring to an incident in 2017. “And honestly, they did it in the middle of the night in a misty, dark time. They did more in two hours than these guys have done in three days. But it’s fun.”
Melissa Quintero, 33, visiting from Miami, said she had wanted to see the Hollywood sign, but she would come back.
“I came looking for the Hollywood sign, but it’s not there right now, I guess, because there’s a parade happening today,” she said. “It’s great, I mean, that they won the Super Bowl. … It’s pretty out here.”
The Los Angeles Rams rallied late to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on Sunday to deliver a Hollywood ending to the Super Bowl, securing the franchise’s first championship since returning to the West Coast six years ago.
The sign is to be changed back later on Wednesday.
(This story refiles to fix a typo in the 2nd paragraph)
(Reporting by Omar Younis; Editing by Karishma Singh and Leslie Adler)
