ldtp cannot input "<" with enterstring method

[Allen]

user@ubuntu:/tmp/test/apps$ sudo dpkg -l | grep ldtp
ii ldtp 2.3.1-1 all Linux Desktop Testing Project (LDTP)
ii python-ldtp 2.3.1-1 all Python bindings for LDTP

When I use the python binding for LDTP, and use the enterstring method, there is a problem if the character "<" is input. I am able to input other characters without issue

>>> ldtp.enterstring("frmSomeApp", "txtInput", "anything>")
1
>>> ldtp.enterstring("frmSomeApp", "txtInput", "anything<")
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ldtp/client.py", line 70, in __call__
    return self.__send(self.__name, args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/xmlrpclib.py", line 1602, in __request
    verbose=self.__verbose
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ldtp/client.py", line 187, in request
    raise e
xmlrpclib.Fault: <Fault 8002: 'string index out of range'>
>>>

# note the first attempt does not contain special character "<"

>>> ldtp.enterstring("frmSomeApp", "txtInput", "~`!@#$%^&*()_+=-,./?[]{}|>")
1
>>> ldtp.enterstring("frmFHOOSH", "txtLoginUsername", "~`!@#$%^&*()_+=-,./?[]{}|<>")
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ldtp/client.py", line 70, in __call__
    return self.__send(self.__name, args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/xmlrpclib.py", line 1602, in __request
    verbose=self.__verbose
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ldtp/client.py", line 187, in request
    raise e
xmlrpclib.Fault: <Fault 8002: 'string index out of range'>
>>>