An Orono man apparently angered over the rising cost of gas took his frustration out on a campaign sign this week, removing a Bush-Cheney placard from the road and disposing of it in the country.

A witness reported seeing the man, later identified as James Phee, 30, of Orono, get out of a car late Wednesday morning and uproot a campaign sign posted on the island by the intersection of Bennoch Road and Main Street. The witness took down the man’s license plate and contacted police, reporting that the sign remover appeared to be very angry.

Orono police Officer Jason Zalva confronted Phee at his Orono home later that morning and Phee admitted taking the sign and leaving it out in the country.

“I just get so angry, the gas price is so high,” Phee told the officer.

Zalva issued a civil summons to Phee for taking a political sign. Phee returned the sign.

A motorcyclist riding on Patterson Road in Hampden Thursday evening struck a dog that ran out in front of him, killing the dog and injuring himself.

Hampden police Officer Scott Jakins said that Nicholas Moulton, 22, was heading south on Patterson Road when the dog darted out from a driveway. Jakins said that Moulton suffered possible back and leg injuries and was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Several windows and locks have been broken at the former Bangor and Aroostook Railroad roundhouse on Outer Hammond Street in Hermon.

The vandalism has occurred two to three times over the last six weeks, according to Sgt. William Laughlin of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department. A lock to a building where old engine oil is stored was reported broken Thursday, he said.

The oil was dumped years ago into a shaft inside the building, which could be dangerous if a child gets inside, he said. There are no suspects in the case.

– Compiled by NEWS reporters Doug Kesseli and Jackie Farwell