Steve Gonzales cast a wary eye around the boulevard as he got down on his hands and knees to scrub Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“The last time I did this a guy dressed up as Darth Vader spat on me,” he said, dabbing water and soap on the star. “I’ve seen people pee on it. Pour beer on it. It’s disgusting. It’s a health hazard.”

A small crowd gathered to watch as Gonzales dried the tile and brass with napkins and used vaseline to help seal the cracks. “It’s porous. Liquid filters down. You have to protect it.”

The star’s pristine gleam lasted about seven seconds before a child, an 11-year-old called Mateo on vacation with his parents from Colombia, stomped on it and shouted “boo”.

A tourist from New York followed up by slowly emptying her soda over the president’s star, choosing a political statement over hydration in the 87F (30.5C) heat.

A girl poses for pictures by shaking her fist at Trump’s star. Photograph: Rory Carroll/The Guardian

A 27-year-old man, who gave his name as Pancho Villa, then squatted over it, mimed defecation and shouted “fuck you”, earning applause and laughter from his family.

The symbol would gleam anew, however briefly, with help from Marc and Lisa Allan, Trump supporters who travelled from Phoenix, Arizona, to clean it. “When you disrespect the star you disrespect the country,” said Marc, 53, a general contractor, squinting in the Los Angeles sunshine.

Scrub, rinse, stomp, spill, repeat – the ritual plays out daily on this patch of Hollywood Boulevard.

A wall was constructed around Donald Trump’s star in July during the 2016 election campaign. Photograph: David Livingston/Getty Images

The star, embedded on the sidewalk long before Trump became president, became a lightning rod for detractors during his election campaign last year. One man smashed it with a sledgehammer. Others daubed graffiti and plastered stickers. An artist placed a miniature wall around it to protest Trump’s immigration policies.

Last week came resistance to the resistance in the form of Makenna Greenwald. The 20-year-old student used make-up wipes to scrub the tile. Her tweet – “Stopped to clean @realDonaldTrump Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President. #RaisedRight” – went viral, inspiring praise, memes and mockery.

Her example has injected fresh brio into the boulevard’s version of star wars, pitting two sides in a zero-sum game of scrub versus smear. The battle reflects national polarisation but with less bile. Most participants, after all, are on vacation. And the hustlers who rove the boulevard dressed as superheroes and comic book villains lend a carnival atmosphere.

“It’s definitely a big tourist attraction,” said Catwoman, watching an Asian group huddle around the star. Zorro and a tubby Spiderman worked the fringe of the crowd.

“People have defecated on it, thrown up on it,” said Christopher Mitchell, a pink-haired busker. “When people lay on it I tell them, ‘You don’t want to do that.’” He grumbled about a Trump-supporting Chewbacca who patrols the boulevard allegedly chanting xenophobic statements. “He told an Australian family to go back to Africa.”

When you disrespect the star you disrespect the country Marc Allan, Trump supporter

Trump’s star is a singular tourist magnet which attracts even those it repels.

“He’s an embarrassment,” said Christyn , 34, visiting with her family from Missouri. She posed before the star with a raised index finger as her husband, Hans, snapped a photo.

Christyn doubted they would post the image on social media. “Probably not because we’re pastors. But I want my kids to know how pissed we are.”

Eveyln Bruton, 18, from Texas, also flipped the finger while a friend took a photo but she disapproved of vandalism. “You should respect the office.” Finger flipping didn’t count, she said, as long as you didn’t post it on social media.

Hans and Christyn, pastors from Missouri, with their children at Trump’s Hollywood star. Photograph: Rory Carroll/The Guardian

Trump supporters, in contrast, posed with thumbs up, then stood aside to watch the stompers and finger-flippers. “A bunch of butt-hurt liberals,” said Joseph Romero, 40, a restaurant owner. He rolled his eyes at a Latino family’s gestures. “They should go back to their own country.”

Michael James, 45, from Arizona, said the star-bashers were globalists who did not share traditional American values. “Now they’re not in power they’re acting out, like babies.”

Another Trump supporter, Dustin Reynolds, 40, who owns a construction company, said venting anger on the star seemed a form of liberal therapy. “They walk away feeling a little better.”

The Allans, who came from Phoenix to clean the star, said they had planned the trip before Greenwald’s example. “I thought, let’s come up here and clean that sucker,” said Marc. “Trump is doing great. He’s trying his hardest.”

His wife Lisa lamented they couldn’t do the same for the dusty star abutting the president’s. “We didn’t have enough water for Kevin Spacey, poor guy.”