Hacked construction signs call Trump a 'shape shifting lizard'
DALLAS - The person who hacked several construction signs in west Dallas apparently isn't a fan of Donald Trump.
A sign along Interstate 30 and Cockrell Hill Road Tuesday morning announced, "Donald Trump is a... shape shifting lizard!!" Less than two miles away another sign read, "Bernie Sanders for president."
A sign on Westmoreland Road just north of I-30 took a nonpartisan approach. It let commuters know, "Work is canceled, go back home."
Over the weekend one of the same signs encouraged Dallas residents to, "Party hardy yall!"
The Texas Department of Transportation said the signs are owned by a contractor working on an I-30 construction project.
Passing motorists did not find the signs funny.
"That's dangerous," said commuter Grace Lozano. "They may be having fun with it, but when there is a true catastrophe or a huge accident and we're not supposed to go around there, or even if there's construction workers out there, that could be deadly to them."
TxDOT said two of the three signs were not in use, but they did have a password and were locked.
The signs cannot be operated remotely. TxDOT believes the hacker broke the locks to physically re-program the signs before Tuesday morning.
TxDOT said it is taking the hack very seriously and is working with the contractor to see how they can better secure the signs.
Two of the messages were turned off at 6:30 a.m. The Trump message was up until around 7:30 a.m., giving commuters plenty of time to snap pictures for social media.
Tampering with a warning sign is misdemeanor crime that is punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and two years in jail.