Video of League City police chief removing sign with swear word goes viral

A screen grab of League Cityresident Stephanie Kovich's home surveillance footage, in which League City Police Chief Michael Kramm removes a yard sign that had a vulgar term on it. A screen grab of League Cityresident Stephanie Kovich's home surveillance footage, in which League City Police Chief Michael Kramm removes a yard sign that had a vulgar term on it. Photo: Facebook Photo: Facebook Image 1 of / 89 Caption Close Video of League City police chief removing sign with swear word goes viral 1 / 89 Back to Gallery

A League City couple's humorous sign about the 2016 presidential election isn't so funny to the city's police chief.

Mark and Stephanie Kovich posted a sign in their front yard expressing how they really feel about politics.

The yard sign looks like an endorsement for a candidate with red, white and blue colors and reads, "I'm an a--hole. Not running or anything, I just wanted a sign."

Related: 'House for sale by owner because my neighbor's a douchebag' sign raises stakes in Texas feud

League City Police Chief Michael Kramm was recorded on the Kovich's home security camera at 7:30 a.m. Thursday ringing the doorbell and waiting outside the front door. When no one came, Kramm walked over to the sign, picked it up and laid in face down in the grass.

Stephanie Kovich posted the video on Facebook and had 12,000 views as of Friday.

"Apparently the LC chief of police found our yard sign so 'vulgar,' he felt compelled to rip it up and throw it on the ground when we didn't answer the door for him at 7:30 a.m.," she wrote in the video post. "Last time I checked it was OUR yard and there's such thing as freedom of speech."

Mark Kovich told Click 2 Houston that the sign was a joke and never meant to offend anyone.

"I think it's so ridiculous that people are so offended by it," he told the news station. "I can see both sides of the fence, with kids and stuff. It was just meant to be in fun."

See also: Anti-STD group mimics Bernie Sanders with Feel the Burn?' billboard

Later Thursday, the League City Police Department released the following statement:

The League City Police Department was made aware of a home security video posted on social media today involving Chief Michael W. Kramm. As always, we strive to address all community concerns. While the concerns over the video are from a select group of people, we want all of our League City family to know exactly what is occurring in the video.

As Chief Kramm was driving through his League City neighborhood this morning on his way to work, he received a phone call from his wife stating a neighbor may have been 'pranked' because a yard sign calling a neighbor a profane name had been placed in the yard.

Chief Kramm went to look for the residence and once located, and out of concern that the resident had been 'pranked' or that the police department would begin to receive calls to address the potential offensive language, he tried to make contact with the homeowner by ringing the doorbell twice.

He can be seen in the video ringing the doorbell and then waiting before ringing it again. After not receiving an answer and believing the homeowner was not home, Chief Kramm pulled the staked sign out of the yard.

At that time, it was not known whether the sign belonged on the property or not, and so he laid the sign down on the ground undamaged. Chief Kramm then walked back to his truck to leave. At that time, the female homeowner opened the door and apologized for her husband's sign. Chief Kramm agreed that it could be considered vulgar or profane by people driving by or by residents whose children wait at the bus stop two houses away.

"I live in this community and I care about the people I serve. As chief, I can't be offended, but I'm not above calls for service in our community. My sole reason for stopping by this resident's home this morning was to prevent any concern that the homeowner may have felt if they believed they were pranked and, if the sign was in fact intentionally placed, for the other residents that would have been offended," stated Chief Michael W. Kramm.