Is vandalizing public property an acceptable way to support your candidate? Apparently, at least one Bernie Sanders' fan did.
The "we Love Bernie" artwork hasn't gone over well with folks who know this famous strip of Florida beach at the north end of Longboat Key.
In fact, the Republican Party of Sarasota came across an individual sharing photos of the "work" on Facebook. What was unique about these photos, said the local GOP, was that -- instead of showing off the beautiful water, an incredible sunset, or the famous "drifting trees" that appear across this portion of the beach -- the photos showcased vandalism performed by supporters of the Democratic presidential candidate.
"Instead of peacefully, respectfully and legally expressing support for their candidate, someone decided to illegally express their support of Democrat Bernie Sanders by defacing the "Drifting Trees" with paint," said the local party in its own ad. "This isn't just horrific and disrespectful to the community, but it's criminal and hopefully law enforcement will be able to locate the vandal(s)."
What the Republican Party of Sarasota County is doing in the meantime is tapping into its network of contacts in the hope of locating a professional environmentalist or conservationist who has the expertise to safely remove this paint from trees that have become a landmark and serve as a local destination.
The Sarasota GOP asks a qualified "fix-it" person to come forward and volunteer to put the landscape right.
"If that doesn't describe you, you can still help the cause by forwarding this email to your friends or sharing the Facebook post with your network." (Click here to view the post. )
Reach Nancy Smith a nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
