‘Heroin Here' sign placed above Lake Stevens home

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A Lake Stevens man who wanted a drug house in his neighborhood cleaned up decided to get the attention of police by putting a sign on the roof that was pretty hard to ignore. It read "Heroin Here," and as a result two people inside were arrested on outstanding warrants and the rest were evicted.

From the beautiful sunsets over the water  to the new subdivisions full of kids, Lake Stevens has a lot of appeal.  But less than a mile south of the sunsets-- and just across the street from the kids-- is a self-proclaimed heroin house.

The property owner's son advertised it with a sign on the roof; Lake Stevens police saw it, made some arrests, and then the city condemned it.  Sheri DeGraf-- who lives in Watermarke across the street-- couldn't be more pleased.

"Oh definitely, especially for the ones with little kids.  There's enough happening in the world you don't want that going on across the street from you," she said.

This is not the first time frustrated citizens have put up controversial signs, sometimes to elicit a police response. In 2006, an Everett man was so fed up with the drug house near his business he made a banner that didn't exactly mince words.  It read "crack" with an arrow pointing at the offending property.

Other times the purpose is just to make a point, like the "Welcome to Tweakersville" sign outside an Everett business that caused quite a controversy last week.

But actions are stronger than words, and in Lake Stevens words proved to be the catalyst for action.

"I think so, yeah, from what it looks like-- yeah," DeGraf said of the sign that led to the arrests, the eviction, and the boarding up of the "heroin house."

Cox Media Group