Anzhe Zhang

Home to over 10,000 people during its halcyon days as a 19th century mining town, Jerome, Arizona today is an artist and gift shop hub that attracts more than a million visitors every year.

But now residents of the quaint north central town are striking, or more aptly, yelling back at tourists for taking over all the parking spots in the 504-acre town. Jerome, despite its “ghost town” status, is home to about 450 people, many of whom are artists.

“It has come to our attention that some people visiting our town on short visits and using lawful short term parking passes are being yelled at or having notes left on their cars by local residents,” the police department noted in a press release on Facebook.

“Yelling at, or leaving notes could, in some cases, constitute harassment under Arizona Revised Statutes,” the post said.

The police department later backtracked on its somewhat serious warning in the following days, clarifying that they were not calling anybody out, and that they simply wanted both residents and tourists to have adequate parking space without the potential for physical disputes.

In the same Facebook post, the police chief noted that Jerome has plenty of parking space alongside Main Street, as well as four paid parking spaces that cost $4 for all-day parking.

So far, there’s been no word from the police department on if the warning has deterred any residents from committing further parking offense vigilantism.

Jerome was designated as a federal National Historic District in 1967.