A lightning protection apparatus having a tower (12) which is grounded to the earth (14), an electronic device (16) mounted onto an area adjacent a top of the tower, and a negative ion production device (20) electrically connected to the area of the top of the tower. The negative ion production device serves to produce solely negative ions around and over the electronic device. An auger rod (24) engages the earth so as to be conductively connected to the earth, and an electrical line (18) serves to connect the auger rod to the tower (12). A shield member (44) is connected to the tower and extends over the electronic device (16). The negative ion production device (20) is connected to the shield member so as to pass negative ions through the shield member (44). The negative ion production device can be one or more batteries that are connected together and having a negative terminal connected to the tower and a positive terminal connected to the electronic device.
