A Scarborough man was cited Monday morning after a police officer caught him removing political signs for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump along Route 1 in Scarborough.

Amos Goss, 37, was issued a civil summons for removing the signs after a caller informed police that someone was pulling up the Trump/Pence placards and stuffing them into his car, said Scarborough Police Sgt. Mary Pearson.

Goss is listed as the executive creative director at the Via Agency, an advertising firm on Congress Street in Portland.

Reached at the agency Wednesday, Goss said he lives in Scarborough and drives on Route 1 several times a day, including the area near the marsh, where a deluge of political placards have gone up in recent weeks.

Goss said the marsh area is the only picturesque section of a road otherwise lined with strip malls, fast-food restaurants and businesses, and seeing the natural area marred by election signs was frustrating.

He said he saw a Trump/Pence sign that had fallen into the marsh water on Monday morning and pulled over to pluck it from the muck.


Then he pulled up a few more, he said.

“I don’t believe any political candidate should be able to put that many signs that close together for that long a stretch,” Goss said. “Whether it was Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or anyone, I find it unbelievable the town is willing to compromise the natural beauty for an endless sea of plastic political signs.”

Goss said his decision to pull the signs was not politically motivated, and he declined to discuss his political views.

“For me this was about, when my kids are asking me, ‘Dad, why are these signs all over the marsh?’ and they’re five and seven years old, that is not a politically motivated statement.”

Although Pearson, the police sergeant, said police found Goss in possession of 14 signs, Goss said he was issued a ticket for ten.

Maine law allows a fine of up to $250 for each sign removed, but Pearson said it is unlikely Goss would receive the maximum penalty.


He is due to appear in court in Portland Nov. 30. Goss said he was not sure whether he would hire an attorney to fight the citation.

Last week, Gov. Paul LePage asked the state transportation department, which oversees the placement of political signs along public roads, to remove more illegally placed political signs along state highways.

A statement issued by LePage’s office said that “many constituents” had complained that campaigns were not following a new law that allows signs to be placed in the public right-of-way but requires that signs with the same message be at least 30 feet apart. The new law allows signs to be in place for as long as six weeks each year and it limits a sign’s size to 4 feet-by-8 feet.


