I sympathize with you. I think it is best policy they do not give you back the stars, because I can see a wave of potential misuse which could also open up vulnerabilities exploiting this practice. Does anyone use "stars" as some form of credibility to the project in terms of security?

Given your reputation, I find you will get back your stars again and maybe even higher than before. Or, at least, it shouldn't be that hard :).

With that said, I am glad to have come across this site. Sure seems to beat postman :)