A second grade student from Indiana is being hailed as a turtle hero after he penned a letter to the mayor about the plight of his reptilian friends.

West Lafayette is full of small ponds and lagoons, so people often see turtles on busy roads. Sadly, the turtles often get hit by cars while trying to cross the street. Jack Wietbrock, 8, was devastated when he saw several dead turtles on one street, and he even had to rescue a baby turtle he found struggling to cross the street. That’s why he decided to take action.

“We were able to save that baby, but we had a couple of times that were some not-so-great moments of seeing turtles on the side of the road,” said Jack’s mother Michelle. “I was trying to think of something productive to say as a parent. And Jack said, ‘Maybe we should send a letter to the mayor.’ I was like, OK, we’ll send him one.”

That very night, Jack wrote a letter to West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis, telling him, “Dear Mayor Dennis, There are turtles crossing the road and they need our help. Can you please put up a turtle crossing sign? Thank you.” Weeks later, he got a response that is warming the hearts of internet users everywhere.

? After seeing several ☠️? in the roadway my son suggested writing a letter to the mayor. He wrote back and now we’re getting “turtle crossing” signs. #ProudMom #makeadifference pic.twitter.com/sMIGK9u6HG

— Michelle Wietbrock (@MichelleWietbrk) July 24, 2019

The mayor responded by saying that he had been so moved by the youngster’s compassion for the local wildlife that he commissioned the city’s parks department to design the city’s first ever “turtle crossing” sign. Dennis said that the sign was to be presented at a town meeting, and he wanted Jack to help unveil the sign.

Dennis is hoping that this story will inspire other young people to take action to help their communities in the way Jack did.

“The great thing about West Lafayette is we embrace the unique and, in some cases, the odd,” Dennis said as he presented the sign. “So, we felt, you know what, there’s something we can do here that’s going to be kind of cool and celebrates Jack’s initiative on making us aware of a problem.”

A few weeks ago, my son wrote a letter to our awesome @MayorJohnDennis @WestLafayetteIN about the need for a turtle crossing after finding a few ☠️ and saving a baby ?. This happened today and I couldn’t be more proud! #makeadifference ? ? pic.twitter.com/pg3vRwQKnM

— Michelle Wietbrock (@MichelleWietbrk) August 6, 2019

Find out more about this in the video below.