Troubled US starlet Lindsay Lohan is to be formally charged Wednesday with stealing a 2,500 dollar necklace from a jewellery store, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The actress, who is on probation after completing a court-ordered spell in rehab for drug addiction, admits she took the necklace from a Venice Beach store but claims it was only on loan.

But Deputy District Attorney John Lynch said she will be arraigned in court Wednesday on one count of felony grand theft for allegedly stealing the necklace on January 22.

"The owner reported the theft to the Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the allegation and presented evidence to the D.A.'s office last week," said a statement by the district attorney's office.

The 24-year-old actress checked out of the Betty Ford clinic near Palm Springs last month, following a spell there after she was briefly jailed in September for failing a court-ordered drug test.

Lohan was sentenced last July to serve 90 days in jail and another 90 days in rehab for violating her probation in a drunk-driving case. But due to jail overcrowding, she served just 13 days before being freed to the detox facility.

She was jailed again on September 25, but granted bail after only 15 hours behind bars and subsequently checked into rehab.

A queen of Hollywood nights and a favorite target of the paparazzi, the former Disney child star was once considered one of the most promising actresses of her generation.

But Lohan's career has dipped many times since 2005 amid legal woes, stops in rehab and cinematic flops.

In 2007, she spent just 84 minutes in jail after police arrested her twice for cocaine possession while driving -- in one instance crashing her Mercedes-Benz into a tree.

In 2008, the "Parent Trap" star received two Razzie Awards, the satirical prizes presented to Hollywood's worst acting performances.

(AFP)