WALPOLE, Mass. — "Not even a great wall can stop" the thief who repeatedly stole a Massachusetts homeowner's Donald Trump signs, according to a note left behind.
Michael Liotta, 67, told WFXT two of his "Trump 2016" signs were stolen before he decided to post the third sign nearly 11 feet off the ground, on his tall oak tree on Bullard Street in Walpole. But even that effort didn't stop the thief, who made off with the sign Tuesday night and nailed a note to the tree addressed to "Mr. and or Mrs. Trump supporter," and signed only, "S."
[ >> Read more trending stories ]
"You see, it would appear that you thought that you were outsmarting me when you put the sign on the tree," the letter said. "This is clearly false, because there is no way that a Trump (sic) supporter can outsmart anyone. People of your kind are in fact the most dimwitted, low level simpletons that any well-developed nation has to offer."
Liotta called his lifelong friend Vic Scena, chairman of Walpole Republican Town Committee, to provide another sign for him to post. Liotta climbed a ladder and nailed it about 20 feet from the ground.
"This is becoming a duel of sorts. He's going to outsmart me. Well, I'm tired of it. I'm not putting up with it," Liotta said. "I don't understand it, but it makes me sick that there are people that would do this."
Liotta, a Vietnam veteran and retired Boston firefighter of 38 years, believes the thief must have used a ladder or had some help to snatch his sign. He says the theft is a violation of his right to free speech.
"It's my property. If I want to put a sign up for a candidate I want to back, that's my business, and it's nobody else's right to come on my property and take my sign," Liotta said. "It's supposed to be America. It's freedom of speech."
Walpole police are investigating the theft. Whether or not a suspect is found, Scena will keep providing Liotta with new signs, and Liotta will keep posting them, a little higher each time.
"My ladder goes up a few more feet," Liotta said. "We'll try it again if we have to."