Linc and Sarah Sample’s signs outside their farm on Oak Street in Boothbay Harbor have become familiar to residents and visitors alike. Last Tuesday morning en route to work, Sarah Sample discovered their latest sign had been sprayed with red paint. It stayed up that way for most of the week; but by Sunday, the Samples had replaced the defaced sign with another, identical to the first.

For the Samples, public expression via roadway signs began with a sign created by Sarah Sample and their sons to honor the Fourth of July holiday. Displaying signs became more frequent when Linc Sample ran for the Board of Selectmen and took a decidedly political stance with the 2008 election campaign. 

According to Linc Sample, it was only when Selectman Bruce Engert insisted he obtain a town permit for his signs that the signs became a larger statement. 

“I realized then I could have a sign three times bigger than anything I had ever put up,” Linc Sample said. Over the years, the Samples have posted patriotic and political commentary on their signs, some of which have prompted public response.

But no response has been as disturbing as last week’s. The vivid red paint, splattered across a statement from a famous National Rifle Association speech, suggested violence to both Linc and Sarah Sample. 

“There’s been vandalism in the past and we took it in stride,” Linc Sample said, “But this is different. Either it’s somebody that doesn’t like my signs or somebody that has a personal grudge against one of us. And that’s what bothers me the most. We took it as a personal threat.”

Boothbay Harbor Police Department Chief Bob Hasch said they are investigating the incident but such cases can be difficult. “We usually need the public to come forward with information to resolve them,” Hasch said.

The Samples said they are ardent supporters of the Second Amendment and they have been vocal in the gun debate that has been ongoing in the wake of the Newtown school shootings.

Locally, the debate has sparked many letters to the editor in the Boothbay Register, including ones written by the Samples.

The defaced sign carried a quote taken from an NRA keynote address by Charlton Heston, most famous for Heston’s first use of his signature statement that the government would only take his guns from his cold dead hands. 

Although disturbed by the vandalism, the Samples are undaunted. “I’ve got probably a dozen of those signs all ready. I’ve got a couple in the works; there’s a process to them,” he said.

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or sumello@boothbayregister.com.