Current events: Electric fence deters Trump sign thieves

NEW BEDFORD: A

Massachusetts

man tired of people stealing his

Donald Trump campaign sign

has come up with a shocking solution: an electrified fence around it.

John Oliveira

, 54, a disabled Navy veteran and a member of the New Bedford School Committee, put the fence up a few weeks ago.

He had started displaying a Trump sign on his lawn in late May. The first one disappeared in July.

In all, six signs were taken, he said.

His latest sign has not been stolen since the fence went up.

“I’m defending my property and my right to free speech,” he said.

The yellow and black solar-powered fence, purchased from a farm supply store, is about 3 1/2 feet high. It has warning signs in English, Spanish and French.

He has informed police of the thefts.

The fence is not pretty, he acknowledged. “But I’m not going to not put a sign up because somebody keeps stealing it or somebody keeps taking it because they don’t like what I’m saying,” he said.