Paris Jackson’s DNA is protected after strands

from her hair cut are collected by security

Paris Jackson is sporting a new ‘do after getting her first haircut in Las Vegas this weekend, but the 11-year-old didn’t completely part ways with her long locks.

Britain’s Daily Mail reports that after the deed was done, Jackson’s security team gathered up every last hair and put it in a plastic bag.

A gesture of sentimentality or a carefully crafted plan to ensure that Paris’ DNA will not be used for paternity testing?

One source believed it was the latter. “Can you imagine the value of Paris’s hair? DNA – the truth, finally.”

Lately, rumors about Paris’ brother Blanket’s biological dad have been sprouting, and they point to another famous father: Macauley Culkin.

Since 1990, the bond between the one-time child star and Jackson has not gone unnoticed, and Culkin went so far as to publicly defend Jackson during his 2005 child molestation trial.

Though Culkin has denied the claim, another potential daddy and godfather to the Jackson kids, Mark Lester, went on the Today Show recently to confirm that he had donated his sperm to Jackson, saying, “‘There’s a possibility that one, or all – very unlikely all – but one of those kids may be mine.”

He went so far as to bring his daughter on the show to demonstrate her similarities to Paris. In light of all the rumors, however, Marlon Jackson spoke out Sunday saying, “Those were Michael’s kids – regardless of where they came from.”

But if one thing’s for sure, it’s that the Jackson family has certainly come together to help Michael’s three children cope with the loss of the man they knew as their father.

This weekend in Vegas, following her time at the salon, Paris’ coping strategy appeared to be shopping, as she made her way through the Palms resort with her grandmother and guardian Katherine Jackson, toting handfuls of bags.