In honor of his brave U.S. Marine son, Ed Alexander draped stickers on his and Tami’s automobiles, shouting out to their child’s military service with pride. They never would’ve guessed that the stickers, which read “Proud parent of a U.S. Marine,” would spark fury.

When Lewis parked his car at a store, he went back to it only to discover that someone had written him an extremely unpleasant note in response to the sticker plastered on the windshield.

When he was ready to back out of the parking lot, he noticed the piece of paper on his windshield and stopped to read it. He simply could not believe what he saw. A complete stranger left him a vicious message that made him cry and prompted him to contact the cops.

It turned out that no crime had been committed since there was no real danger in the note, but the sheriff’s department did notify the public about this harsh statement by posting about it on their Facebook page.

The note reads: “F**k you and your son. I hope he dies.” In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office stated: “We can’t undo the message, and we almost hate to share it, but we decided we could use it as an opportunity to say thank you. Please join us. To this man in Deltona, to anyone who’s served or is serving our country, and to all the families who sacrifice precious months and years with a loved one: THANK YOU and your son, daughter, husband, wife,relative or friend for what you’ve given us. We hope each and every man and woman comes home safe, although we know our world is not a safe place, and not everyone gets that homecoming. Our families are veteran families, too. We can’t put a note on every windshield, but we can say it here: We respect you, we support you and we’re here for you at home.”

“Wow, this person’s evil,” said Lewis of the stranger who left the note. He continued, “My son’s serving to protect that person’s right to do that and it really hit me, so I called the sheriff’s department…I was crying.” “I feel comforted, very much comforted,” Lewis said of the sheriff’s department’s decision to publish the letter on Facebook along with a message of gratitude to military members.

Tami said their son “wanted to make a difference in the world, and this was his choice,” and that this was his decision to join the military. Lewis had one thing to say for himself, telling the reporter: “If I could leave a note on their car, I’d probably say God bless you.”

A flood of responses arrived from the sheriff’s office, including one individual who wrote: “Whoever left this note should be found and publicly shamed. I don’t support the unnecessary wars the US has engaged in during the last 25 years or so, but I do support our troops. They put their lives on the line for us, and deserve our respect and thanks.”

Another commented: “I am grateful for people like your son, that he/they are willing and ready to protect and defend this country. Many thanks to the families who give up their loved ones so we can have the freedoms that our forefathers wanted for us. God Bless America!”