A landowner faces a huge fine after he erected an 80ft ‘Trump Tower’ banner on his land – sparking a row between the locals and their council

Dan Rittenhouse, 60, and brother Francis, 73, hung the 12ft wide sign on their smokestack in Iron Mountain, Michigan.

But the council claim the brothers “creative project” violates a local sign ordinance which says signs bigger than 900sqft need a permit.

It sparked a heated town meeting, where more than 100 people turned up in support of Dan and Francis, local reports said.

Reports say that under the fine structure, the first-day offence is $100, the second day, $300, and each day after is $500.

It is estimated that Francis and Dan have racked up more than $3,000 worth of fines.

Despite the fines, Dan and Francis are determined to keep the sign up to “protect” their First Amendment right and freedom of speech.

Dan, a consultant and retired business owner, from Howell, Michigan, said: “I can’t believe that the US is so divided that people have to be so hateful.

“When we started putting this up, we didn’t realise that there were going to be so many people supporting it.

“We just thought it was our property and we wanted to show our support for Trump.

“Originally people would see the tower and be excited about it.

“My family are very saddened by the fact this country is so divided.

“I don’t know where the country is going but I don’t like it.”

Dan and his brother put up the red and white banner on October 9.

Dan said: “Initially we spoke about the fact we have a large structure – it is the tallest one in the town and we pay tax on it.

“We thought it was quite the tower and it would be really cool if we named it Trump Tower.

“It didn’t start off political, it was creative – we are fans of Donald Trump.

“We simply wanted to celebrate Donald Trump.”

In the days that followed, people stopped to take pictures and word spread.

One resident, Angela Hall, 45, said: “I was excited when I saw the Trump Tower – I thought it was very clever.

“I thought it was a good way to use the structure, to use your First Amendment right to show who you support for President.”

Dan then got word that the local mayor was unhappy with the banner and the first fine was issued to Francis on October 18, 2024.

On October 21, more than 100 people packed into a council meeting in support of Dan and Francis.

Dan said: “We don’t know when the fines started from or if they have ever started.

“We are in the process of asking for a review on this matter, we are going to litigate and protect our rights under the First Amendment.

“We didn’t know we needed to have a permit to do this on our own property.”