Massachusetts police are investigating after signs at Harris Walz Yard were set on fire

Police in Massachusetts are conducting an arson and vandalism investigation after several political signs, including one for Vice President Kamala Harris, were set on fire last week, according to a news release from the Sterling Police Department.

The release states that on Oct. 17, officers along with the city’s fire department were dispatched to a fire in the front yard of a property where several political posters had been set on fire.

According to Boston.com, in addition to the Harris sign, signs for Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jim McGovern were also burned, apparently targeting Democratic candidates.

The man whose signs were set on fire, Blaine Bershad, posted a video on Facebook of the signs being set on fire and asked if the city was safe for him to live there.

He wrote that police only became aware that the signs were burning because a neighbor came home and saw them burning.

Bershad also said the fire could have spread quickly and become much larger due to the dry environment and lack of fire hydrants.

He wrote: “It was just a few signs that could easily be replaced. The point is clear that the signs are about free speech. This act shows a lack of respect for the opinions and property of others.”

Bershad continued: “We feel threatened, don’t we? This is how it begins. Fascism lives in Sterling, Massachusetts.”

Newsweek Bershad asked for comment via Facebook.

Newsweek also reached out to the Sterling Police Department via email seeking comment.

Bershad, 72, has reportedly lived in Sterling for more than three decades and is chairman of the elected Public Works Committee and an active participant in the state Democratic Party and the Sterling Democratic Town Committee USA today.

He told the outlet that he has friends who are both Republicans and Democrats and that he has never felt attacked for his political beliefs in the city before.

Bershad’s partner Will Sherwood told NBC Boston: “I’m saddened by the psychology of the person who did this because what does it do? What did they expect from us? Change our vote? Change our signs?”

Responding to the incident and Bershad’s post, McGovern also condemned the arsonist’s actions on Facebook, writing: “There is no place for this kind of intimidation in American politics, period. But that will only make us work harder. “If we work hard, we win!”

There is no evidence that the person or persons responsible for the fire had political leanings or that the act was politically motivated.

Newsweek The Trump campaign emailed for comment.

According to CBS News, the couple reportedly plans to finish installing video cameras in their yard and then put up more than three times the number of signs they had previously put up.

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