US President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been destroyed by a man armed with a pickaxe.

The suspect, 24-year-old Austin Clay, was in custody at the Los Angeles County Jail on a charge of felony vandalism with a bail of $US20,000 ($27,000), jail records showed.

“A pickaxe was used in vandalising the star” embedded in the sidewalk near Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles early on Wednesday, LAPD spokesman Sergeant Ray Brown said.

The man pulled a pickaxe out of a guitar case before striking Mr Trump’s sidewalk honour, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The star was nearly destroyed, and also had graffiti scrawled on it.

According to celebrity website TMZ, the man who first vandalised Mr Trump’s star – also with a pickaxe – is coming to Mr Clay’s rescue by bailing him out of jail.

James Otis, reportedly the heir to the Otis elevator fortune, attacked the now-president’s star in 2016. After pleading no contest, he got three years probation and had to pay nearly $5000 to replace the damaged star.

He is planning not just to write a cheque to spring Mr Clay, but wants to meet him when he’s released, said TMZ.

Others had a different view of Mr Clay’s alleged attack. As pedestrians walked by the site, in an area popular with tourists, Gregg Donovan, 58, of Los Angeles, stood by with a “Trump 2020” sign, saying he was protecting it from further damage.

“It’s a California landmark,” Mr Donovan said.

“Don’t take your anger out on a tourist landmark.”

Mr Donovan guards the star. Photo: AAP

This is the second time in less than two years that the star has been vandalised. In January, it was defaced with a spray-painted swastika.

Mr Trump was awarded the star in 2007 for his work on the NBC television show The Apprentice.

-with agencies