SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man who tore down signs barring access to playground equipment during the novel coronavirus pandemic said he regrets damaging the property, but stands by his belief that the state’s lockdown orders were unlawful.

“I believe that the coronavirus lockdown orders are unconstitutional and unjust,” Christopher Michael Herndon said on Tuesday.

Herndon, 22, was cited for two counts of malicious injury to property on May 16, after he was seen angrily tearing down signs advising that the playground at City Beach was closed to the public to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a Sandpoint Police affidavit said.

He was also seen stomping the signs and cutting up yellow caution tape that ringed the playground.

“From a moral perspective, those signs should not have been there,” said Herndon.

Herndon added that somebody else had already defaced the signs with a marker.

The city erected the signs and strung the caution tape in observance of state guidelines and restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus.

A witness took high-resolution images of Herndon engaged in the vandalism and he was cited by Sandpoint Police, according to court records.

Herndon entered into a plea agreement Tuesday in which he pleaded guilty to one of the misdemeanor counts. In exchange for the plea, the second misdemeanor count was dismissed.

Herndon, who is free on his own recognizance, is scheduled to be sentenced in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Aug. 5.

Herndon does not deny the existence of the virus and said he knows people who have contracted it. However, he believes the state went too far in implementing restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the disease.

He believes people should make up their own mind as to how they respond to the pandemic.

“I am an advocate of personal responsibility,” said Herndon. “We don’t want the government to tell us what to do,” he said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.