CLEVELAND — An ice cream shop in Cleveland was in for a not-so-sweet surprise when they found a political yard sign they had posted in front of their business had been lit on fire. The owners of Mason’s Creamery in Ohio City, which serves ice cream, Korean corn dogs, and ramen in the winter, were able to watch surveillance video of the moment the sign went up in flames.
Co-owner Jesse Mason arrived to work on Wednesday morning to find their “Vote no on Issue 1” yard sign had been reduced to its wire frame, the portion of the sign sporting the message itself was destroyed, leaving melted plastic on the grass.
“There was anger, obviously, and I think there’s sadness, that somebody thinks they need to resort to that to have their opinion matter,” Mason said.
On surveillance video of the outside of their business, Mason was able to go back and watch a man pull up next to the sign in a pickup truck just before 2:30 a.m., appear to set it on fire, then drive away. The sign then sparks and begins to burn.
"It sends a really strong message, whoever did this,” Mason said. “But we'll keep putting up signs, we will vote, we will encourage everyone we come into contact with to vote, so yeah, we won't be intimidated."
On the Mason’s Instagram account, the team posted about the incident, sharing a photo of the burned sign, as well as surveillance video of the incident. They shared the following message “It might be just a sign, and we might be just an ice cream shop, but we take our democracy and our right to vote very seriously. We will not be intimidated and I hope you all feel the same.”
Mason said he filed a police report Wednesday, and spoke with fire officials Thursday morning.
3News reached out to the Cleveland Division of Fire, who tell us the fire investigation unit is actively investigating the situation. They say other incidents may also be connected to the man in the video, however, they couldn’t share more details on an open investigation.
Additionally, 3News was told that until their unit is able to question this individual, they won’t know if this incident was politically motivated, or if this man just wanted to light something on fire.
Mason told 3News he had learned of some other signs in the neighborhood that had been impacted, as well. He said he’s grateful for the community’s support, and now has new lawn signs posted at the business. Now, he’s asking everyone to get out and vote.
“We’ll continue to make our beliefs known, and I think it’s really important as a business and as residents as well to not be silenced.”
Again, the investigation into this incident is ongoing. The state fire marshal’s office tells 3News they are not involved in this particular fire investigation, and shared that the arson statute “does not create special penalties for a malicious fires set to political signs.”