Trump supporter's home vandalized, lawn burned

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - A Clearwater resident said someone spray-painted his house and set his lawn on  fire -- all because of his support for Donald Trump, apparently.

The "Elect Trump 2016" sign painted onto the side of Craig Sarvis' house was defaced with graffiti.  Black spray paint now obscures the mural and brown lines on the lawn are evidence of where someone tried to set the grass on fire.

"To come and start committing acts of crime and vandalizing my personal property has gone way too far.  And then to step in my yard and light my yard on fire is getting very dangerous," Sarvis said.

The homeowner said it started a few weeks ago when someone ripped down some of his Trump 2016 signs.  In response, he painted "Elect Trump 2016" on the side of his home, so it could not be torn down.

Vandals seemed intent on defacing anything Trump-related on the man's property, and spray painted over  the mural, as well as painting and keying his truck and egging his house.

The vandalism escalated Wednesday when the homeowner noticed a scorched line in his grass, where  someone apparently poured a 40-foot line of accelerant and set it on fire.

"Thankfully we live in a humid state and it wasn't able to spread to my house. We'd probably be  standing in front of a charred structure right here," Sarvis told FOX 13.

The homeowner filed a police report and offered a $2,500 reward for information about the person or  people responsible.

Officers had a message for the person responsible:

"Stop right away," said Rob Shaw, a spokesperson for Clearwater Police Department. "In this country, you're allowed freedom of speech, you're allowed to support whoever and whatever you want, but you're not allowed to just go an vandalize somebody's property just because you don't agree with them."

Police said, depending on the cost of damage caused, the crime could be a felony.