Ohio Woman Says She's Not Taking Down Werewolf

The plastic werewolf statue in the Piqua, Ohio, yard of Mary Simmons is almost 10 feet tall—and while some people in the neighborhood might feel that the Halloween decoration has long outstayed its welcome, Simmons says it's not coming down. She says she recently received a notice asking her to "please take down the seasonal wolf decoration"—so she's decided to make the werewolf, which she has named Phil, seasonal for every holiday, WHIO reports. She says that she's dressed Phil in red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July and that "we're going to get a big Hawaiian shirt and maybe some sunglasses" for the summer.

Simmons describes the statue, which she bought last October, as a "house mascot" that probably deters burglars. Simmons says the statue is staked to the ground and isn't a safety hazard. "Just let me have my werewolf, that’s all I want. I'm not asking for a lot, just let me have my werewolf," she says. The city, which issued the notice after receiving an anonymous complaint, says no further enforcement action will be taken, Dayton 24/7 reports.

Neighbor Hailey Barker says she doesn't have a problem with Phil. "I'm a big horror fan so I didn’t really mind it," she says. "I’ve watched them dress it up for different occasions, and I think it's pretty cool." (More strange stuff stories.)