It’s no secret there are some who aren’t happy with the new direction of the federal government.

There are plenty of ways to register one’s disagreement. Some people choose to do so via social media. There have been protests like the one in early February outside Rep. Nick Langworthy’s Jamestown office. Other people choose to write letters or guest essays to the newspaper – and we can attest receiving more than a fair share of those in recent weeks.

What happened recently at Rep. Nick Langworthy’s office is unconscionable. Langworthy said last week that his Jamestown office was vandalized while Langworthy was holding a news conference. The door was jammed in an attempt to keep either Langworthy or his staff from going inside. In the grand scheme of the problems facing many people a jammed office door ranks pretty low on the priority scale. But given the supercharged rhetoric that now is part and parcel of our brand of national politics and the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump last year, we understand why such juvenile vandalism as the door jamming at Langworthy’s office is raising red flags.

There are many who aren’t happy with Langworthy’s support of Trump and Trump’s policies. And one of the things they’re particularly frustrated with regarding Langworthy is a lack of public availability. Democrats didn’t necessarily like former Rep. Tom Reed, but Reed held regular town hall meetings throughout the 23rd Congressional District. Those meetings were often contentious and packed with people with harsh questions about Reed’s votes and priorities. But Reed held them anyway, and the town halls served to temper people’s displeasure with Reed’s brand of politics.

The vandalism at Langworthy’s office is inexcusable. If police find the person responsible there should be consequences. At the same point, Langworthy can take some action to lower the temperature by holding some sort of in-person town hall to allow people to express their frustration. It’s not pleasant – but it needs to be done before this boiling political pot makes a bigger mess.