Bewitching! Who Is Hanging Ruby Red Slippers All Over Hollywood?

HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — Someone, or some group, is tossing sequined ruby red slippers on phone and power lines all over Hollywood. But why?

CBS2's Stephanie Abrams went in search of answers to this puzzling mystery.

First, she asked residents if they had any idea what the shoes meant. "We certainly found some creative answers," reports Abrams.

One passerby said it signifies a party happened at the location, another said "a death", and another said Dorothy herself was doing a high-wire act and disintegrated, leaving only her slippers behind.

The LAPD tells Abrams that shoes strung over a wire indicate drug dealers are doing business in the immediate vicinity. But police admit they have never heard of ruby slippers being used before. Nor do they get the connection.

Many people suggested this caper might be more show biz than just shoe business. Could this all be a publicity stunt? A grassroots promotion for the upcoming production of the Broadway show "Wicked" returning to LA and the Pantages Theatre?

Abrams spoke with the Theatre's Communication Director, Benny Aguayo,  who says "Wicked" had "nothing" to do with the hanging slippers, but he's been called about it. "I received many phone calls asking 'what are these ruby slippers all over the place,'" said Aguayo, "and I really have no idea because in our show they're actually not ruby, they're silver."

They're silver, just as they were in the original book "The Wizard of Oz"  --  MGM made them a sparkly ruby red for their technicolor movie.

Abrams admits she didn't exactly solve the mystery. But as Aaron Henry from Hollywood told her, "This is LA... and nothing surprises me."