LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- Police in Los Angeles said a man was arrested during a gun buyback event when he tried to turn in a homemade pipe bomb.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the man came to the weekend buyback event with a homemade pipe bomb and told officers he had originally planned to use the explosive to blow up the Hollywood sign, CBSLA.com reported Tuesday.


The man "told the officers in the line that he had spoken to God that day, and God no longer wanted him to use that bomb to blow up the Hollywood sign, now he wanted him to turn it in," Beck said.

"This is not a pipe bomb buyback, this is a gun buyback," he said. "Pipe bombs are illegal to possess, illegal to manufacture."

The man, whose name was not released, was arrested.