SUSSEX COUNTY, Va. β A billboard praising President Donald Trump was vandalized along Interstate 95 in Virginia over the weekend.
The vandals hung a life-size model of the president from the display.
Chester Carter erected the Trump billboard on his land in 2019.
"I've had people from Maine to Florida stop on 95, go to the fence, take pictures and text it to my phone," Carter said.
Carter said on Sunday a family member called him to tell him the display was vandalized.
"I was about a mile away and I come by here and I say, 'Oh my god, somebody has hung an effigy up of the president and a political message,'" Carter said.
Photos show a sign that reads "God Bless President Trump" covered in red paint and a doll depicting the president hung directly under it with a sign reading in part, "kill all rapists pedophiles."
The images disturbed some who saw it.
"I don't like that hanging business period," Gerald Tucker told CBS 6. "History of my people about those hangings in the past, it doesn't fly, as far as I'm concerned. I don't like seeing it with anyone."
"What do you tell your child about your country when they see something like that?" Pastor Todd Brown questioned.
The original 2019 display on the side of a box truck was also vandalized.
Carter mentioned one instance in 2020 and repeated incidents since the most recent presidential election.
"Since the election last year, a lot of people would stop and tear the American flags down. We had American flags on posts in the ground, people would stop and vandalize the flags," he said.
Carter calls the vandalism a hate crime.
"They have no right to go on my land exercising their freedom of speech. Do it in the highway, right, but they can't do that," Carter said. "This is not just child's play. This is serious consequences."
The Sussex County Sheriff told CBS 6 the person responsible would likely face charges of misdemeanor vandalism and a Class 6 felony for displaying a noose with the intent to intimidate.
Carter estimated the damage to be around $5,000.
Carter told CBS 6 that a monetary reward of at least $2,000 is being offered for information that leads to finding the people responsible.
If you have any information about this crime, you're asked to call the Sussex County Sheriff's tip line at 434-597-4400.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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