A front-yard nativity scene that features a fanged baby Jesus with blood dripping from his mouth is facing several new citations after its owner allegedly installed a roof that isn’t allowed under local zoning rules.

The eye-grabbing Ohio display has ruffled the feathers of some local Christians, but Sycamore Township Zoning Administrator Harry Holbert insists his office only is concerned with the fair application of local rules.

Those rules, Holbert says, ban roofed “accessory structures” taller than 5 feet – such as sheds – from front yards, and it's his job to ensure compliance.

The dispute appeared to have been resolved earlier this month when after just one day of being cited, operator John “Jasen” Dixon removed the roof of what was originally a 9-foot structure.

That brought the unusual manger into undisputed compliance with zoning rules, even as the display became a national news story. But Holbert says shortly after, a new 7-foot roof was installed.

“So far, he has been cited for six additional days of being in violation (12-11-15 through 12-18-15) and will be cited additional days for each day the violation exists,” Holbert tells U.S. News in an email.

An unsavory part of Holbert’s job has become fielding calls from outraged free speech supporters who, he says, believe he’s targeting the display because of its content – something he denies. “If it’s under 5 feet, you don’t even need a zoning certificate, you can put all the figurines in your front yard, no matter what they are,” he said after the initial bout of interest.

Sycamore Township, Ohio, allows residents to put blasphemous dolls in their front yard, a town official says, but does not allow front-yard structures taller than 5 feet.

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A defense fund set up to support the display, meanwhile, has raised more than $3,000, and Holbert says he suspects the reason for the zoning violation is less a principled stand for free speech and more a money-making publicity stunt.

Dixon, however, says he's not planning to make a cent from the display, and plans to donate money that's not used on attorney fees.

The subcontractor, who operates a seasonal haunted house on the side, says he first learned of the new citations when contacted by U.S. News and that he will not take down the display until a few days ahead of a Jan. 5 court date for the citations.

"I'm just kind of being harassed," he says. "If it were a beautiful nativity scene, Mr. Harry Holbert would never be writing me citations for anything – would have never heard from him."

Dixon says the new roof actually is a plastic tarp supported by boards to keep the figurines dry, and says he's incredulous that Holbert is making him appear to be the difficult party.

"Of all the stuff he overlooks in this little garbage town, he could have overlooked this. He brought this war on himself," he says. "He's bringing worldwide attention on Sycamore Township and is making the township look stupid."

Dixon says one of the wise men is 6 feet tall and that he cannot make his structure 5 feet. "I'd have little midgets in there," he says, joking that he "could lay them down and put them in a provocative situation if he wants me to do that."

Dixon says his family is Catholic, though he doesn't attend services, and that priests have visited the display and voiced approval, as have other churchgoers, with the exception of local Baptists.

"The Baptists hate it – it's a big no-no," he says.

The legal strategy that Dixon's attorney will pursue isn't entirely clear, but Dixon says he should have had a grace period to appeal the automatic rejection of a permit request and that he believes the town is slyly changing up reasons for why he cannot have the structure.

Last year, the issue also courted news attention, and Dixon says the issue then was a square-footage rule. (Holbert says that's a separate building department matter, not a zoning issue).

"They're just hiding behind local laws that don't always hold in court," Dixon says. "They're acting like they're upper-class citizens in Sycamore Township. That's not the case. It's just the zombies rub people the wrong way, that's it."

Dixon, who plans to sell his home of 15 years and move to another town, said he faced $500 a day in fines after the initial one-day citation. Holbert says actual penalties are now at the discretion of a judge and could be smaller.

UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, one of the nation's most prominent First Amendment scholars, says the township's accessory structure zoning rule appears to be content-neutral and the citations therefore permissible.

"Assuming they're really enforcing it in an evenhanded way, it's probably constitutional," he says. "But it's not open and shut: You could imagine a court saying there has to be an exception to this rule for expression, especially when it doesn't look like something that's causing the problem the zoning law is trying to address, like people having storage space on their front lawn."