SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A South Milwaukee woman woke up last Friday morning to find her home vandalized with expletives against President Trump and ICE spray-painted across her property, along with trash scattered throughout her yard.
Kathryn Butterfuss discovered the vandalism a little after 4:30 a.m. Her home surveillance cameras captured a woman around 1:15 a.m. spray-painting graffiti on her garage door, fence, and front yard. Security footage shows a woman in a bright yellow sweatshirt committing the vandalism while Butterfuss was asleep. Video shows the woman coming from the alley behind Butterfuss' home.
"I think stunned would be the best word. I can't see that kind of behavior happening in South Milwaukee," Butterfuss said.
Butterfuss describes herself as a private person and says nothing like this has ever happened to her before. When asked about what could have prompted this, she believes it was a flag she had up showing her support of President Donald Trump.
"So I did have a Trump flag for the entirety of last year, probably up till maybe Thanksgiving-ish, underneath my American flag up front, I do. That's just my belief," Butterfuss said.
The vandalism wasn't isolated to Butterfuss's property. Similar graffiti featuring expletives against President Trump and ICE appeared on several trees along Oak Creek Parkway in South Milwaukee around the same time. Both scenes are less than a mile from each other near Minnesota Avenue.
Watch: Security footage captures vandal targeting Trump supporter's South Milwaukee home
Butterfuss believes the incidents could be connected due to the same type of spray paint being used. She also suspects the vandal could be someone living nearby due to the woman only wearing a sweatshirt in freezing conditions.
She described the suspect as being "between 5'8, 5'10, a bigger person, reddish hair, like mine, but straight, probably not quite as long."
A captain with the South Milwaukee Police Department says they're working with the county to investigate the situation in the Oak Creek Parkway nearby. The search for the person responsible continues in both of these situations.
"Just because you don't believe what I believe doesn't give you any right to destroy my property, or anybody else's, for that matter," Butterfuss said.
She told TMJ4 it took four hours to clean her garage door. The fencing, she said, will most likely need to be replaced, estimating thousands of dollars' worth of damage.
Under Wisconsin law, property damage can mean hefty fines, restitution for repairs, even jail time — and if cleanup costs top $2,500, the charge jumps to a felony. On top of that, disorderly conduct could add more fines or jail time.
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