Someone set fire to political signs on a lawn in Sterling, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
Sterling police confirmed officers and firefighters were called out just after 10 p.m. to investigate the fire. There were no suspects in the area when officers arrived, and investigators said there were no other reports of vandalism in town.
A neighbor pulled up alongside the home and recorded cellphone video of the fire, dialing 911.
All of the signs at the Rowley Hill Road home were in support of Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jim McGovern.
"We have plenty of Republican friends in town," said homeowner Will Sherwood. "They're all great people, we're all neighbors and do things for each other, respect each other."
Sherwood and Blaine Bershad say they're terribly disappointed someone would do this to their signs.
"I think now's the time to call people up out," said Bershad. "If they're thinking that this is reasonable behavior, it's not."
Neighbor Tim Aldridge, who describes himself as extremely conservative, spotted the fire and recorded the video.
He says whoever committed the crime doesn't understand free speech, and he supports the couple's right to their political signs.
"They're wonderful people," said Aldridge. "They're good Americans, they just happen to have a different political view."
Sherwood and Bershad are very grateful to Sterling police and firefighters for arriving quickly, and putting out the flames before they spread.
"The leaves around the signs were burned," said Bershad. "If Tim hadn't called the fire department, that whole side of the hill could have been burned, maybe our neighbor's house, it's really dangerous stuff."
Both wish people would just come together and discuss their political differences, rather than act irrationally.
"I'm sad for the psychology of the person that did this, cause what does it accomplish?" Sherwood said. "What did they expect us to do? Change our vote? Change our signs?"
With just weeks to go before Election Day, political signs have become a point of contention in more than one Massachusetts town. In Hanson, town officials are fining a resident who has been projecting a political sign onto the town's municipal water tower, despite orders to stop. And in Tyngsborough, the police chief issued a statement asking residents to "remain respectful" after an uptick in vandalism and theft of political signs.
