A Mount Desert man who has run several times for elected office is facing a felony charge for allegedly vandalizing signs at a Mount Desert Island land preserve.
Ian J. Schwartz is accused of damaging multiple signs and trailmarkers at a Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve on March 28, 2025. The damage amounted to $1,000, according to a Mount Desert Police Department incident report.
A Hancock County grand jury indicted Schwartz Feb. 5 on a felony charge of aggravated criminal mischief and an associated misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
After being presented with information by the Hancock County District Attorney’s office, the grand jury alleged last week that Schwartz, “did intentionally damage, destroy or tamper with the property of Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve for the purpose of causing substantial harm to the health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships of said Preserve or any other person,” according to the indictment.
Schwartz pleaded not guilty last summer to an initial charge of criminal mischief, according to court documents. Schwartz is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on April 23, 2026.
His defense attorney, William Ashe of Ellsworth, did not respond to inquiries from the Bangor Daily News.
Director of communications for the preserve, Kathryn Strand, declined to comment on the incident.
David Kerns, police chief for Mount Desert, and Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger each declined to comment on or release additional information about the case.
The preserve manages 1,400 acres of public land on Mount Desert Island, including Asticou Azalea Garden, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, Thuya Garden and land surrounding Little Long Pond.
In the past 8 years, Schwartz has run unsuccessfully for several local offices. He lost races for Hancock County Commission in 2020, the Mount Desert board of selectmen in 2019 and the local Democratic State Senate primary in 2018.
Schwartz was the only Democratic candidate on the 2020 ballot for county commissioner, concerning fellow Democrats after he promoted inflammatory blog posts on Facebook titled “F*** Bar Harbor Business Owners” and “America Always Sucked: Happy 4th of July!”
Schwartz, a published author and former assistant English professor at a South Korean university, previously held an appointed position on Hancock County’s 10-person budget advisory committee, members of which are elected during a caucus held by each commissioner in their district.
Schwartz did not respond to inquiries from the Bangor Daily News.