Public nuisance or art? Orlando man forced to get rid of pile of items strapped to van

ORLANDO, Fla. - Photos of a van stacked several feet high with various items in Orlando made their rounds on social media. Some were concerned to see the vehicle driving around, and apparently, the city was too.

The man behind the wheel told FOX 35 News it's something he's been working on for weeks, but thinks it really drew attention when he took it to the popular Lake Eola area.

"An art exhibit on top of my car," said Percy Hardy while parked a few blocks outside downtown Orlando.

Hardy lives in his van. He says he was proud of what he had built, and handed things out for free to other people who are homeless.

Hardy demonstrated for FOX 35 how he strapped so much to the van's roof, using chains and bungee cords. He was forced to give up most of those items after he says city officials paid him a visit Thursday morning.

"About 7:30 in the morning, they’re knocking on my door waking me up telling me to get out my car," Hardy said.

"It was a real surprise to us because I had never seen anything like it before," said Samuel B. Ings, a former city commissioner and mayoral candidate.

Ings was one of many who noticed the moving pile of supplies.

While he feels for the man and says there needs to be more resources for people without homes, he is worried about his safety.

"It’s a code enforcement violation," Ings said. "And what they can do is try to help assist the guy to get this stuff out of here and get it to a junkyard where it actually belongs."

FOX 35 reached out to the City of Orlando to ask exactly how they handled the situation but didn't receive a response Friday evening

.Florida Highway Patrol says you can get a ticket for hauling things like that if they are not safely tied down.