The # sign, is used for navigation within the page. It is not passed by the browser. In your example, it is saying, load: script.pl?first, then look for an anchor called second. See: w3.org 
<a href="#second">second</a>
... very long page ... 
<a name="second">Link above should bring the browser here</a>

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In reply to Re: Can the "#" character be passed via $ENV{QUERY_STRING} ? by cowboy
in thread Can the "#" character be passed via $ENV{QUERY_STRING} ? by Hagbone

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