Port Washington Man Hits Back After Trump Yard Signs Taken

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A Port Washington man and supporter of President Donald Trump is taking matters into his own hands after someone came onto his property and took down Trump lawn signs.

Not long after moving to Sands Point Road in Manorhaven, Uri Bloch bought a Trump sign and proudly displayed it in his front lawn for all to see. Located on a busy artery, his home also happens to be situated near Manorhaven and John Philip Sousa elementary schools.

In other words, it makes for great visibility.

"It's a good spot for me and my signs," Bloch told Patch on Wednesday.

The signs were installed first a couple months ago. It didn't take long for others to notice. Just a day later, he discovered the sign was moved.

"It was just thrown on the front lawn," he said.

At first, Bloch didn't think anything of it. Must've been the wind. He picked it up and plunged the sign deep into the ground. The next day, he saw it was taken out and tossed again, this time into a bush near his front door.

"So I thought, 'Ok, this isn't the wind, this is someone deliberately doing it," Bloch said.

Defiant, he returned the sign to its rightful place once more. But two days later, it disappeared for good. He bought another. Within two days, that, too, vanished without a trace. Rather than buy a third, Bloch scaled up.

"I thought, 'This is ridiculous. Two times already, and they keep moving it,'" he said.

This time, he would make it harder for potential thieves and vandals. He bought a flag and some nails. "Trump 2020" now proudly hangs over his porch.

Bloch also bought a pair of doorbell surveillance cameras. Brazen thieves will not only have to come with a ladder and hammer to take down the sign, they'll be on camera when they do it.

"Now there's no more signs coming down," he said.

Bloch has no potential suspects in mind, and he hasn't filed a police report. That might change if it happens again, particularly if someone really causes some damage. Even so, he can't imagine who'd risk their reputation to take town a Trump sign.

"I wouldn't do it. Forget about whether it's right to do, if someone had a camera, they're going to seem like schmegegge," he said emphatically, using a Yiddish term to describe someone filled with hot air.

"It's not worth the hassle. The ramifications of you being exposed, of being the one who took it down are pretty high. Someone's gotta feel really strongly to be against it to do it."

Bloch said that while he doesn't fear for his safety, he does feel disappointed in his community. Others have reached out and shared similar experiences. One woman said her Trump bumper sticker was taken right off her truck.

"You'd imagine in Port Washington, this is a small town," he said. "This isn't the type of place where you gotta go onto someone's property and throw away their sign because you disagree with them. That's more what's disappointing."