Political signs are being stolen or vandalized as Election Day approaches

The campaign offices for local Republican and Democratic candidates said many people have come in or called to say their signs have been stolen or vandalized.

James Langnes, campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican who is running for reelection in the First Congressional District, said most reports came in the weekend before Halloween.

“A number of our supporters reached out to us to share their frustration that their signs disappeared,” he said. “We have worked to replace the signs that were stolen.”

Langnes said the issue became so prevalent that Steil made a Twitter post telling people to stop stealing.

He said it’s not uncommon for signs to be stolen in an election year, but this was the first time Steil’s office saw several reports in one night.

Langnes said stealing signs is not a reflection of all voters in Wisconsin nor of the values that Steil’s campaign promotes.

“I don’t think a few bad actors define our community,” he said.

Shawn Reents, chair of the Democratic Party of Rock County, agreed that vandalized signs are an issue this year.

“We are seeing quite a bit of damaged signs showing up; they have words crossed out or changed to say something else,” he said.

Reents said there has been a pattern to the vandalism: the name is often crossed out or the slogan changed to say the opposite of what’s intended. And, he said, the wording is often the same type of block letters.

He said many people with damaged signs have asked for new ones.

“They sometimes ask for more signs or an even bigger sign with thicker stakes,” he said.

Reents said the campaign office typically takes photos of the damaged signs and then throws them away. He said stealing or vandalizing signs is a type of bullying and intimidation and said he doesn’t understand it.

“Why would you go onto someone’s property, take someone’s stuff, or ruin it just to prove a point?” he said.

“It shouldn’t be about one side or the other,” Reents continued. “We may not always agree, but you shouldn’t have to go write on other people’s signs.”

Langes said “people should be able to express their political views as they see fit,” but he agreed that stealing people’s campaign signs out of yards is not the best way to go about that.