'Blair Witch' actress stars in spray-paint vandalism drama in Maine

By Ted Cohen/The Maine Wire

Plot : Star of the "The Blair Witch Project” retires from acting, moves to a small town in Maine, and gets elected to the town governing board.

Fact or fiction? Fact.

A year later, Heather Donahue is facing a recall election after allegedly taking a land dispute into her own hands.

True or false? True.

Donahue, who lives on Beaver Ridge Road in Freedom, Maine is embroiled in a legal battle over whether the road is private or public.

The retired movie star, an avid hiker and snowshoer, said she moved to the road because trails were an important feature to her.

But others on the road say it's a private way and are fighting to keep the public - including Donahue - off it.

Townspeople will vote April 23 to decide whether to oust Donahue, who moved to freedom in 2022, from her position on the Select Board.

Donahue allegedly used blaze orange spray paint to mark trees along what she believed is the public portion of the road.

The Hadyniak family, which moved to Beaver Road in 1997, had posted it private, claiming they've always believed at least part of it to be their road.

But town officials including Donahue disagree. The family is suing the town to keep the road near their land private.

The family's s wooden barricades were run over last year by an ATV, and shortly after that, a private-property sign they erected was vandalized to say "Town Road Open To Public.”

Donahue's marking the trees along what she believes is the public portion of the road with orange spray paint crossed a line for some Freedom residents who began petitioning for her removal from public office.

The retired actress told the Midcoast Villager she believes she was completely within her lawful rights to mark portions of the road public.