Caruana helps to replace vandalized sign

Three Forks resident Julia Caruana was returning home after to a trip to Pipestone when she saw the vandalization to the joint campaign sign for U.S. President Donald Trump and Montana Senate District 38 candidate Jim Buterbaugh. What she witnessed propelled her into action.

Caruana said there is always that "what the" moment when you've driven past something countless times has suddenly changed and she spent much of that evening storming over how something like this could happen in Whitehall of all places.

"There's not much cowboy country left in Montana, particularly western Montana. You know that when you witness things like this. When the code of 'leave it better than how you found it' is more than lost. So, I stepped up to do just that, leave it better than how I found it," she said.

The next step for Caruana, the owner of Cowgirl Creativity, was to post on the Whitehall Classifieds Facebook page in hopes of finding the owner. During this search, she was surprised at the support for the vandalization of the sign that took place sometime in mid-July.

"Regardless of your opinion of the material, the vandalization of private property is a crime," she said.

Through her post, Caruana was able to find the landowner and Buterbaugh and helped them replace the sign which she printed at no cost. Caruana is hoping that with her help to replace the sign that every one will be a bolder statement than just support for President Trump and Buterbaugh.

"This is a movement of the 'silent majority' who will not be silenced nor intimidated by juvenile antics. It's disheartening to see these things happen in our small towns, but I've made new friends out of it and have strengthened the efforts of us as a whole. We are banded together in our resolve," she said.