That's nothing more than vandalism. Is that not still a crime?

You know, garden gal, I couldn't agree more. I hate them, too. This year, one campaign in my town placed a massive wooden sign at a corner that obstructed the view of oncoming cars. Duh. I emailed the parks dept because it was on city property and they got it moved by contacting the campaign. Took 48 hours to get it moved.

That said, free speech and all that, so I have to grit my teeth and accept them. I read once about a woman who ranted and raved about her lawn signs being taken down, blamed her neighbors who supported someone else, etc. Turns out it was the guy who mowed her lawn. Awkward.

ETA: secsteve - You are right. Destroying signs is juvenile behavior and against the law where I live. If caught, people who do this are fined, as they should be.

I visit a community with nice landscaping, an attractive community except those signs lined up in a row on every corner. I wish the city would prohibit them.

Somebody painted swastikas on a Jewish candidate's signs here in our lovely city...

ITA with you all. It's been many, many years since I would even consider putting a sign in my own yard. People get so worked up over differences of opinion... We've had a few cases where one person's opinion based on a yard sign caused someone else to vandalize a house or car. Ridiculous.

We are lucky in that our community requires that all signs [like those on the side of the roadways] must be removed within a certain number of days after the election, or fines can be given. They do a pretty good job taking them down, and then city workers will pick up the rest as they are doing their usual rounds- I don't know if there are consequences for the stray signs the city people pick up.

Is that a housing compact making people take down their signs? I don't see how a public entity could make someone take down a sign which is a matter of free speech --even after the election. The "city people" take signs off of private property? Do you know this issue of keeping signs displayed at your own residence has been to the Supreme Court? Homeowner displaying the sign won.

"I don't see how a public entity could make someone take down a sign which is a matter of free speech - even after the election."

Most of the signs are not placed on private property. And unless you have permission of the owner of the property (the city, county or municipality, etc.) you are simply trespassing and creating an act of vandalism by placing them, free speech or not!! Most governing authorities tend to look the other way with election signage (as they do with garage sale signs) but they could come after you or the candidate with fines, etc. if not removed promptly.

My brother in law had his work truck keyed because of the Trump sign in his yard ( they keyed f ... Trump)

This year he has video surveillance and has caught several stealing Senate race signs!

That's some odd activity going on, loonlakelaborcamp. Are the local police able to follow up, or is that perhaps something your BIL prefers not to bother the police with?

I'm unaware of any sign theft or vandalism in my neighborhood.

Police are given the images, and some of the kids have been talked to. Video cameras help aiot-we were able to prove neighbor kids were tauntinting our dogs to bark, and now kids give us a wide berth.(ring doorbell systems on all sides of house.)

I would not consider putting any political sign in my front yard, with all the political craziness going on today. Far fewer than usual in my neighborhood this election - think most of my neighbors feel the same way I do.

Secsteve, are you sure it's candidates destroying opponents' signs? Usually it is the opponents' supporters who do dumb stuff like that.

Also, here in my town, there are rules about political signage. You must have permission of the property owner, signs must not block the view of traffic, etc., and they absolutely MUST be removed within a certain number of days of the election. I don't remember the exact number, but I have noticed the majority of the signs are removed within 24 hours. There are pretty stiff penalties for breaking these rules, too.

Gardengal48, perhaps you should have a talk with your city council about the possibility of getting some laws in place in your city and/or county.

Rusty

Oh, we have laws....and they are quite specific :-) But that does not mean that they are uniformly or even routinely enforced or that candidate supporters pay attention to the rules when placing the signs in the first place!

I have six political signs in front of my house. I will take them down election night. These are signs for our democratic governor, senator, congressman, and local representative. They have been there for a week and not destroyed yet. When I had my Obama signs in 2008 and 2012, they were often taken or destroyed. I had an Obama sticker on my Prius for eight years and had some men follow me into a Target saying did I know some stupid person put an Obama sticker on my car? My Subaru has none because some Trumpsters around here are evil people who would key your car in a heartbeat so none for the first time. I rarely see them anymore.

To clarify my earlier post, the signs removed by city employees are those that are posted along the side of the road, or in city "green spaces", not private citizens front yards. The same rules for removal or fine also apply to things like yard sale signs that people put on telephone poles or on street corners. Fortunately though, the city seems lenient when it comes to lost pet posters.

I worked for many political campaign since I was 15 until I was 30 and some of the workers thought it was fair game to steal other candidates signs, the other side would then retaliate and steal our signs. I never liked them doing it because those signs cost money to make and if our workers are stealing the signs they are only hurting the campaign they are working for since the other side would also steal signs. The signs were eventually returned to the other candidate. It is vandalism for sure. The guys thought it was great fun.

I used to hate those signs too, but this year my perspective has changed a bit. Because of the current political climate and the growing threat on our democracy, I’m actually glad to see those signs. As people become more and more energized about the upcoming election(s), a lot are deciding to throw their hat into the arena. I want to see if the signs in my area finally have some new names on them. I’m not afflilated with a party and I hate dirty politics, so If a partitucular candidates signs are being trashed by their opponent, that sticks with me and that opponent has lost my vote for sure regardless of what he/she stands for. I’ve also started to watch the political commercials to see the method each of the canidates chooses to use to get themselves heard. Do they trash the other candidate or push for gun rights or do they focus on their goals and how they will help solve problems.

Plain and simple, regardless of the political affiliation, if someone can’t campaign clean, I’m positive that they’re not someone I want in office.

I do wish they were better about cleaning the signs up afterwards though.

I am glad none are allowed in our HOA.

Rusty

In one case, the candidate was caught on tape. His excuse? Gotta love this - someone had taken his car without his knowledge who looked like him. Yhea, right.

In other cases, yes I'm sure it's the worker bees and I should have mentioned that in my original post.

Rules here are the same as for you, but it's amazing how many people choose to ignore them. However, if a sign is confiscated for being illegally placed, the candidate is fined. Even if they didn't put their sign in an illegal spot.

They are suppose to take them down within three weeks after an election, but in some cases, seems a lot longer.

lucklirish, I'm with you regarding if they can't campaign clean, then they don't get my vote.

Day after the elections when we had dogs I would take the signage to use in my garden until someone told me I was stealing. Depending on the area that you live in those stakes both wood and metal are very useful after you pitch the signs. I would not suggest taking the angle iron ones although I have been tempted when they have been there for months with a candidates sign flapping between them.

My father was heavy into politics when I was a kid. He was campaign manager for many politicians and ran himself, for alderman (the new pc word for that position is now city councillor as the "men" part was found to be offensive to women...). I think my best memory of his campaigning for his friends was the night he and a friend were caught taking down signs of one of their rival opponents. Police were called. Charges were never laid because police never did find the signs they took down. Little did the police know, they unwittingly allowed my dads friend get rid of them. He asked the one officer if he could please use the washroom of the people who lived in the house where they were parked in front of. "I know them, they're friends." he said as he held his stomach like he was about to pee himself. The officer allowed him to ring the doorbell. The lady of the house let him in. He ran through the front, through to the back door, then ran about a block up the back alley where he took the posters out from under his parka and tossed them in someones garbage can. Ran back to the house through the back door, out of the front door and thanked the officer. The house? It was ours. The lady? My mom. :) It's probably the only fun memory I have of election time.

Some civic clubs got smart and started offering a dollar per stake to anyone that brought in the pulled signs up from their area. Keeps those tacky signs from staying out for more than a day.

My last house all the neighbors use to pull them out at the intersection and lay them on the ground. The signs blocked the view of any cars.

Ditto anglo: "I would not consider putting any political sign in my front yard, with all the political craziness going on today. Far fewer than usual in my neighborhood this election - think most of my neighbors feel the same
way I do."

This is not meant to promote religion but rather to encourage all humans to act in a more friendly manner toward all humankind. *sigh* if only . . . . .

Removing a campaign sign is against the law around here unless it is on public property or on private property without permission from the owner.

Secsteve, I believe we live in the same state. Do you remember a few years ago when it was the husband of someone campaigning who was the sign thief??

in a neighboring township, they had a township worker removing signs. supposedly he did it on his own....hmmmm...

very contentious climate around here. the mid-terms should be a preview of 2020.