GOP candidate Adam Lange ties vandalism to his truck to his political views.

PROVINCETOWN — A candidate for Republican state committeeman says he was the victim of a hate crime while campaigning on Commercial Street Monday, the first day of early voting in Massachusetts.

Provincetown police issued a statement Tuesday night saying the incident was under investigation, but officers did not witness events as described.

Adam Lange, of Brewster, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, told the Times he had traveled to each mainland town hall in the Cape & Islands District in an Army truck, arriving in Provincetown at around 4 p.m.

“As soon as I pulled up in front of Town Hall a guy ran up and tore the Trump banner and 'thin blue line' banners off the passenger side of the truck, then took off down the main drag towards the marina,” Lange wrote in an email.

Lange said he pursued the man to a nearby alley.

"He spun around and told me to leave him the 'F' alone," Lange wrote. "I smelled alcohol on his breath.

“I put my hand on my gun, and told him I was placing him under citizens arrest, and we were returning to the truck to meet with police,” Lange wrote. “He complied and we returned to the truck where a small crowd had formed.”

Lange said one of his supporters was explaining to the crowd "that I was on the ballot and so was President Trump."

"The crowd really didn't care, and felt we had caused the problem," he said.

Provincetown Police Chief James Golden issued a statement about the incident Tuesday night, confirming that officers responded to a report of a disturbance where “a large military-style truck was parked in front of town hall with political signs, flags and banners all over it.” Another report said “someone was running after somebody” and “somebody pulled a flag off" the truck, Golden said.

The responding officers took a “highly intoxicated” man involved in the incident into protective custody for his own security, according to the statement.

The police did not observe Lange chase the man into an alley or escort the man back to the truck, Golden said. Officers also did not see a “small crowd” challenging one of Lange’s associates at the scene, as Lange had claimed, and found no active disturbance occurring, the statement says.

“Also, we caution people against believing they have the power to conduct a ‘citizen’s arrest,’” the statement says, noting there is no statute in Massachusetts that allows for it and case law provides for it only for a person who has “in fact committed” a felony. The concept is a common law authority that colonists brought with them from England, the statement says.

“The consequences for a regular citizen making a citizen’s arrest that is not justified by a conviction for a felony is potential liability in a civil lawsuit for false arrest, assault and battery, etc., and possible criminal prosecution,” the statement says.

Provincetown police continue to investigate the incident, and additional criminal charges may be filed, according to the statement.

Lange told the Times late Tuesday that this incident was clearly a violation of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, a felony, and he plans to consult with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office about possible further action.

"... I feel the attack on my property was due to my political views," Lange said.

Follow Geoff Spillane on Twitter: @GSpillaneCCT.