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(CNN) -- Hawaii state lawmaker Tom Brower was fed up with the state's homeless problem. His solution, however, left him branded a vigilante.

Brower took a sledgehammer to abandoned shopping carts.

"I get a lot of complaints about stolen and abandoned shopping carts in Waikiki, and I was thinking as a public servant, 'What can I do that would be practical and I can literally do overnight,'" Brower told CNN affiliate KITV.

"I'm not doing anything different than doing a community cleanup, or what the city's administration has tried to do with the issue of people illegally camping on the streets," he insisted. "I'm just doing it quicker."

He began in late October and estimated that he destroyed about 30 of the carts, which are often used by homeless people.

It's not advisable (and) not smart," the state's homeless coordinator Colin Kippen told KITV. "It's mean-spirited and is vigilante justice."

Callers to Brower's office slammed the lawmaker. "What if I smash his car up with a sledgehammer 'cause I don't like what I see," one caller said, according to CNN affiliate KGMB.

Brower decided to stop. "I guess I shouldn't use the sledgehammer because it's a really loaded image," he told KGMB.

Hawaii's homeless problem

The controversy marks the latest chapter in Hawaii's struggle with homelessness. Hawaii has the highest rate of homeless per capita of any state -- about 45 people out of every 10,000, according to the Homelessness Research Institute. The only area with a higher rate is Washington, D.C., at about 113 per 10,000.

Beautiful weather and generous public assistance programs have helped attract people to Hawaii; very high housing costs have added to the homelessness levels.

One homeless man, Kawika Crowley, ran a long-shot campaign for U.S. Congress in November.

Hawaii offers homeless one-way tickets

Before Steve Harvey became a top comedian, actor and media personality, he was living out of his car and struggling to make ends meet. Harvey, now 56, tells People magazine that in the late '80s, he was homeless for three years while waiting on his big break. It turns out that's a familiar story in Hollywood ...

Jennifer Lopez recently opened up about having been homeless for a period prior to finding stardom.

According to a Yahoo movies biography, Jim Carrey's family fell on hard times when he was young and lived in both a tent and their VW bus in the front yard and driveway of his older sister.

Halle Berry said in a 2007 interview that she found herself homeless at the age of 21 after moving to Chicago. "I became a person who knows that I will always make my own way," she said.

When Jewel was still a struggling young singer, a boss propositioned her for sex. When she refused, he fired her and withheld her paycheck, which led to her living out of her car for a year.

Comedian Drew Carey revealed that as a teen he was homeless in Las Vegas, selling plasma for $40 and scraping together money to buy boxed macaroni and cheese. "I wouldn't have had this success if I didn't struggle," he said.

The late Kurt Cobain was homeless for a time in Aberdeen, Washington. He's said to have lived under a bridge and slept in hospital waiting rooms. Many think the lyrics to Nirvana's "Something in the Way" were written about this period.

Suze Orman knows of what she speaks when she advises people on their finances. Before she became a multimillionaire, she reportedly lived out of her van.

Movie mogul Tyler Perry talked to pal Oprah Winfrey about sleeping in his car on and off from 1992 through 1998 while he waited for his career as an actor and playwright to take flight.

According to reports, Jim Morrison had to sleep at Venice Beach for a period until he found stardom with The Doors.

Family issues led to Heather Mills being homeless when she was 14. She lived in a cardboard box under the arches at London Waterloo railway station.

Actress/singer/dancer Carmen Electra was homeless in Hollywood in her early 20s. She recalled being stranded on a park bench in the Valley, armed only with a knife, a pager, Versace heels and some change in her pocket. "I remember crying and watching cars drive by and thinking, 'I would do anything just to be able to get from here to there -- to get down the block!' I was, like, 'I can't walk anymore.'"

David Letterman spent some time living in his truck before he struck it big as a comic and late-night talk show host.

Dr. Phil McGraw reportedly lived in a car with his father as a youngster while his dad interned as a psychologist. "I cherish those memories," McGraw said. "That was my time to learn how to deal with stress and adversity, lessons I'd never have learned any other way at that age."

The late Eartha Kitt was well-acquainted with poverty when she moved to New York in the 1940s. She was quoted as saying, "I've eaten out of garbage cans, and I've slept on rooftops."

"The Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce talked about having to live out of his car while he struggled with drugs in his autobiography, "Random Acts of Badness."

Before he found success and fame as a model and actor, Djimon Hounsou was a homeless teenager in Paris during the 1980s.

It was during her time as a homeless teen that rapper Lil Kim met her future mentor and love, Biggie Smalls. She had been kicked out of the house by her father.

Talk show host Don Imus reportedly sought refuge in laundromats when he was homeless after being discharged from the Marines.

Frenchie Davis was tossed from " American Idol" for risqué photos and said it happened because she had fallen on hard times. "I was poor, homeless, and, you know, that's when I took the pictures. It was something I did out of desperation," she said.

Kelsey Grammer reportedly spent some time camping out in alleys with his motorcycle before he was famous.

A fire at her apartment reportedly forced singer Kelly Clarkson to live in a car and shelters before she became a star on "American Idol."

Former porn star Traci Lords revealed in her biography, "Traci Lords: Underneath It All" that she was homeless after dropping out of high school.

It was only for 24 hours, but legendary movie producer Robert Evans said he was once "homeless" after traveling back from Cuba.

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Celebs who have been homeless

In August, the state legislature approved a pilot program to offer plane tickets off the islands for some homeless people. "We're going to send them back to their family, a strong support network system where they can get back on their feet," Rep. John Mizuno said at the time, adding that the plan would "save our taxpayers a substantial amount of money."

New York and San Francisco have paid to relocate thousands of homeless people in recent years.

Brower wants to see Hawaii take other steps, as well. "I believe we should have some type of homeless campground because a lot of people on the streets, either they don't have the discipline to go to the shelter, or they don't want to," he told KITV.

CNN's Casey Wian contributed to this report.