Donald Trump Scarecrow Vandalized At Keyport Library

KEYPORT, NJ — The Friends of the Keyport Library didn't mean to cause a controversy with their annual Halloween scarecrow contest. But when someone submitted a scarecrow that looked like President Donald Trump, that's exactly what happened. The library has received multiple threatening phone calls over it, and in the middle of the night Tuesday, someone tore off the Trump scarecrow's head. Update: After Patch ran this story on Oct. 5, the Trump scarecrow was again vandalized that evening.

The Keyport library on Broad Street has held the scarecrow contest for three years now, library trustees president Ed Carew said. Residents build scarecrows and the community is invited to vote on the best one. The top three winners receive up to $300 in Keyport cash, money donated by the Keyport Bayfront Business Cooperative that can be spent only at local businesses in this small waterfront town on the Raritan Bay.

Kids and families often work for weeks on the scarecrows, Carew said, and it's a fun local event. The library trustees encourage residents to get creative. There's a Spiderman scarecrow. Another one features John Lennon quotes. In past years, there was scarecrow that looked like former President George W. Bush. This year, a resident in town submitted one that resembled Trump.

"The person who made this, a woman, is actually a Donald Trump supporter. She didn't mean anything offensive by it and it's very tasteful. It just looks like the president," said Carew. "He's in a suit and holding an American flag. I wouldn't have put it up if it was distasteful or was trying to be overly political, like if it had a knife in the heart or something. I wouldn't have allowed that."

But someone didn't like it. The library has received at least three threatening anonymous phone calls demanding the Trump scarecrow be taken down. The most recent was received on Tuesday night, after midnight. "The caller said something like, 'If you don't take that scarecrow down, I'm doing it myself,'" said Carew.

At 7:15 a.m. the next day, when Carew drove past the library, he noticed Trump's head had been torn off and was lying on the ground.

"I called Keyport police and filed a police report. I also told them about the threatening phone calls and an officer came and listened to them," he said. "(Some people) don't want too big a deal made out of this and they asked me not to post on Facebook. But I want the community to know this happened and I want people to know that vandalism is wrong."

What happened next? A man stopped by the library and said he bought a new mask for the Trump scarecrow. Trump's head was put back on. Another Keyport resident stopped by and said he had an even bigger American flag that he wanted to put it in the scarecrow's pocket, so the Trump scarecrow now sports two American flags.

Judging by the phone calls, Carew suspects that it was a Trump supporter who was offended and tore it down.

"Regardless, it saddened me that someone committed vandalism and it saddened me that it had to be the Trump one," he said. "We weren't using this as a forum for politics. We just wanted to bring people to our library and make the grounds look adorable."

He said in future years, he has no plans to restrict scarecrows that take a political bent.

"We have scarecrows that look like all kinds of things in pop culture, as long as they are respectful," he said. "I don't want to censure art."

"At least people are talking about the Keyport library!" he chuckled.

When Carew and this Patch reporter were standing outside the library looking at the Trump scarecrow, a man walked by across the street. "That's the best one!," he shouted of the Trump figure. He gave the thumbs up sign.

All photos taken by Carly Baldwin/Patch