Calverton roadwork sign ‘hacked’ to read ‘Vote Trump 2016’
Drivers are used to seeing political signs along the roads as Election Day draws closer each year. But motorists along Route 25 in Calverton were in for a more unusual sight Monday morning: a New York State electronic construction sign urging them to vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump this year.
A portable variable message sign set up as part of the repaving project along Route 25 was altered to read “Vote Trump 2016” Monday morning.
“Unfortunately, someone must have hacked into this unit and changed the traditional road work message,”said state Department of Transportation spokesperson Eileen Peters.
Ms. Peters said the sign was corrected Monday morning after road crew workers noticed the new message. It wasn’t immediately clear if any other signs were affected.
The tweaked sign annoyed Riverhead resident Walter Olsen, who in an email wrote to the News-Review that there was “nothing right about a construction sign being used this way.”
Monday marks a key date in the ongoing campaign for president as Mr. Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton face off in the first of three scheduled presidential debates.
Monday’s 9 p.m. debate will be held at Hofstra University — about 55 miles away from the hacked sign.