Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief

A towering 'Baby Trump' protest balloon was knifed and deflated by someone unhappy with its appearance during President Donald Trump's Saturday trip to Alabama, organizers said.

The incident occurred during Trump's visit to watch the University of Alabama football game. The balloon, which is over 20 feet (6.1 meters) tall, was set up in a nearby park.

Jim Girvan, the organizer of a group that 'adopts' out the Trump balloons for protests, said a man charged the balloon with a knife and cut an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) hole in the back.

In a news release, Tuscaloosa police said Hoyt Deau Hutchinson, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief.

He posted a Facebook video before the incident saying he was 'going down here to make a scene...y’all watch the news....I’m shaking I’m so mad right now. I’m fixin’ to pop this balloon. Stay tuned. It should be interesting'.

Scroll down for video

The deflated 'Baby Trump' balloon is seen above on Saturday. It was knifed during Trump's trip to Alabama

Hutchinson charged the balloon with a knife and cut an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) hole in the back. Hutchinson is seen being arrested above

Trump baby balloon popper being arrested by TPD. Don’t listen to this vid with your mom.



(I wasn’t there for this. Just passed along the evidence) pic.twitter.com/OqDnYvsLQK — Abbey Crain (@AbbeyCrain) November 9, 2019

The orange, diaper-clad, cellphone-clutching caricature of the president is often taken to Trump appearances as a way to protest him.

'Baby Trump' first rose over London when local activists brainstormed a way to troll Trump. Now several groups raise money to bring balloon replicas around the U.S.

Robert Kennedy, a volunteer 'baby sitter' who brought the balloon to Tuscaloosa, said the balloon immediately began to sag after it was cut.

The day had been going mostly smoothly, Kennedy said. Some people yelled 'Trump 2020' as they passed while others posed for selfies with the balloon. But then Kennedy said a man sidled up on the back of the balloon and attacked it with a knife. The suspect ran away but was caught by police officers, Kennedy said.

It is unclear whether Hutchinson has an attorney who could comment.

He started a GoFundMe within hours of his arrest and it has already raised more than $12,000.

The page said: 'Help raise money to pay legal fees and restitutions for Hoyt. He was charged with a felony criminal mischief after deflation of the disrespectful baby trump balloon. Hoyt made sure our beloved president didn’t have to see this disrespectful balloon on the streets of Ttown today!!'

Hutchinson is seen wearing Trump merchandise (right) and in another Facebook photo left

People standing by a Baby Trump balloon at Monnish Park protest President Donald Trump's visit to an NCAA college football game between Louisiana State and Alabama playing nearby in Tuscaloosa

Kennedy said he's accompanied 'Baby Trump' to many appearances and never witnessed an attack on it, although someone did stab one of the balloons in London earlier this year.

'It is rare to get that kind of anger,' Kennedy said.

Trump's reception at the showdown between Louisiana State and Alabama contrasted with the scene at Game 5 of the World Series in Washington, where was booed, and the mixed response to his appearance at a martial arts fight in New York.

Trump, sitting one tier above the field, waved as fans turned around to look up at the president. He smiled, gave a thumbs-up a few times and threw a couple of fist bumps into the air as the Alabama fans waved red and white pompoms in response. First lady Melania Trump got an equally enthusiastic welcome.

Trump left in the fourth quarter of the game, which LSU won 46-41.