BANGOR – Author Stephen King has decorated his West Broadway home for Christmas, and the focus of his front porch now is a large, 1960s-style peace sign in colored Christmas lights.

Strung between the porch pillars at the top of the front steps, the retro peace sign is “just a decoration,” according to Julie Eugley, King’s personal assistant.

“He decided that he wanted to decorate for Christmas,” she said.

Neighbors seem to enjoy the lights as well.

“I love that sign,” neighbor Cheryl Wixson said Thursday. “Every time I drive by I think that’s what the whole world should be thinking about.”

Wixson said it’s not something she could recall being there before.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, noting that the holiday season is all about the little things people do for each other and to remind others of the holiday spirit.

The King family usually is away for most of the holiday season, spending time at their Florida mansion. This year is a little different, and the Kings, Stephen and his wife, Tabitha, have been in Bangor since November.

“Usually they don’t decorate for Christmas because they’re not here very long,” Eugley said.

King is a well-known Democrat and has spoken out against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration, but the peace symbol is not specifically representative of his political beliefs, his assistant said.

During U.S. Sen. John Edwards’ September 2004 campaign stop in Orono, King called the Bush administration “the most dangerous and unpleasant bunch we’ve had since the Nixon years.”

Those close to him, however, said the peace sign, which clicks on shortly after 4 p.m., is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s a symbol he has used previously in his work, Eugley said.

“When he said [he wanted a] peace sign, none of us thought anything of it,” she said.