Trump supporter's 'T' burned to the ground

Sam Pirozzolo's house and the huge 'T' (APTN)
Sam Pirozzolo's house and the huge 'T' (APTN)

A New York Donald Trump supporter whose gigantic 'T' sign was burned down at the weekend wants the culprits charged with a hate crime.

Sam Pirozzolo got woken up 1am on Sunday morning by someone at the door telling him the 4m-high artwork in his front yard was ablaze.

"I can see out the window there's this big orange blaze, and I'm like, 'Oh my god, my artwork is on fire.'"

After firefighters put it out, he went back inside and his wife told him what he had to do next.

"When I came inside, she looked me square in the eye and said, 'You're putting it up again, right?' There was no hesitation, there is absolutely no fear."

Trump supporter's 'T' burned to the ground

Sam Pirozzolo (APTN)

Scott LoBaido, the artist who designed the T, got a call from Trump himself.

"I said, 'Don't worry Mr Trump - tomorrow at three o'clock, I'm building and putting up a new one. It's going to be bigger, it's going to be huge.' And I got a laugh out of him."

The new sign is indeed huge - it's 5m tall.

Mr Pirozzolo said it should be treated as a hate crime, since other "different selections of the population" are protected under the law.

"I assume it was committed by a pro-Hillary supporter and I hope that this incident is elevated from an arson to a hate crime, because that's how I see it."

Newshub.