Man spends $4,000 on giant statue to give town authorities the middle finger

Unhappy with the authorities yet uncertain what to do? This man from Vermont has the answer for the ultimate revenge in the most figurative and hilarious of ways. According to reports, Ted Pelkey from Westford, had been locked in a bull-fight battle with the authorities. Ten years ago, Ted Pelkey had wanted to build a 8,000-square feet garage, so he could move his truck repair and monofilament recycling businesses to his own property, rather than working in the nearby town of Swanton. Unfortunately for the Vermont man, the Westford Selectboard and Development Review Board blocked him from getting a permit. The battle continued for a decade and all he got was a no over and over again.

The disgruntled 54-year-old then decided to take matters into his own hand. Instead of the 8,000-square feet garage he had planned, he decided to build a giant statue of a middle finger instead. The monument was constructed out of a 700-pound block pine, sits atop a 16-foot pole, and cost $4,000.

Me identifiquei com o Ted Pelkey...https://t.co/rrae8UWhUw

— Cauê (@chianca) December 11, 2018

That's a lot of money-spent to flip someone the finger, but the gesture is pure genius. Oh, and here's the icing on the cake: Pelkey had also put up two floodlights, so the statue's visible all day, and all night.

Some guy paid $4K to put up this middle finger statue. pic.twitter.com/jXR5KTRF0S

— Mildly Interesting (@interestmild) December 12, 2018

Pelkey told Boston.com, "I’ve been put through the wringer by these people, and it’s just not right,". "I haven’t been treated fairly at all. I was sitting at a bar and said to my wife, ‘Hey, I want to get a statue made of a middle finger, and I’m going to put it up on the lawn’." Pelkey thought town officials would force him to take it down, but unfortunately, they cannot. Westford banned billboards, but since the giant middle finger statue is not advertising a business, it falls under the category of public art, and is therefore protected by free speech. Pelkey's reaction to that news? "Most wonderful thing I’ve ever been told in my life."

However, the Westford native wants everyone to know the middle finger is directed at the people who crossed him, not the entire town.