A Waitsfield family is one of several local families currently experiencing harassment in the form of garbage being thrown repeatedly into their yard near the political signs they have put up this election season.
Adele Stafford and her family live on the East Warren Road above the Round Barn. She reached out to The Valley Reporter to discuss the issue after learning that other local families were encountering the same thing.
“We are one of several folks experiencing littering on our property since posting a political sign in our yard. We actually had the same thing happen several years ago when we put a “Black Lives Matter” sign in our yard as well,” Stafford said.
Eventually, they took down that sign, tired of cleaning up the garage. They recently put up a sign supporting presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and the trash has started up again.
“Within a day of putting the Harris/Walz sign in our yard, we got bags of trash thrown into our yard. Someone is taking their trash every day in a bag and chucking it at the signs,” she said, noting that it’s a lot of vegetables and food scraps with a fair number of plastic bottles. Someone is depositing their compost and recyclables in the Stafford yard.
The East Warren Road and their sign, yard and driveway are visible from their house, but they don’t spend all day watching out their windows.
“We are home during the day and we think it’s happening while we’re home,” she said.
“We clean is up and it happens again the next day,” she added.
They have not yet reported it to the police or local law enforcement, but plan to because it feels like harassment, and they’ve learned of other families experiencing the same thing.
“Beyond being illegal, it’s menacing, verging on threatening. It’s a little scary and it feels like someone is spitting on us every day. What is this person hoping to accomplish?” she asked.
“Why can’t we have a conversation with people who disagree? That’s what democracy is supposed to be about. People can disagree and talk about the issues without resorting to this,” she added.
