Star is reborn after thief pinches Peck

Someone has walked off with Gregory Peck at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Thieves equipped with a concrete saw cut through terrazzo and concrete to hoist out the pink, five-pointed star that frames a movie camera emblem and the late actor's bronzed name, authorities in Hollywood said Tuesday.

"It happened just before Sunday's Hollywood Christmas Parade. We have no idea where it is," said Johnny Grant, who serves as Hollywood's honorary mayor and oversees the chamber's sidewalk salute to celebrity.

Civic leaders at first thought the 43-year-old sidewalk star might have been removed as part of some sort of construction project. But they quickly determined that none of the city's departments was doing work beneath the Walk of Fame.

"We covered over the hole before the parade so nobody would get hurt," Grant said. "We wanted to replace it right away."