Taking political signs equals theft, larceny

The large political sign in the yard of Mark Varah’s Burnt Bridge house has orange spray paint obliterating its message.

It is the second time that something happened to his sign supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama. It was stolen in the middle of the night and just a few days after it was replaced, Varah woke up to find a circle with a line through it spray- painted on the sign.

“(It was) the second time they violated our property,” he said. “Someone had to step on my lot to vandalize it. … Independent of your political views and voting plans, it’s poor form to vandalize a sign.”

It’s not just his signs.

Pat Newskyj returned to her Collington Drive house one day to find her sign supporting Obama torn in half. She asked the local Democratic Party to replace it and they did. Two days later, it was gone.

Varah’s sign still sits in his yard, waiting for when Lynchburg’s Democratic Party can replace it. Someone dropped off a new sign for Newskyj, who is keeping it close to her Campbell County house in hopes that no one will take it.

“It’s our right to have a choice,” Newskyj said. “It bothers me that people would do this. … It is sad that there is this kind of thinking in this country. It would never cross my mind to pull somebody’s sign up.”

Mark Peake, the local Republican Party chairman, said he’s hearing many reports of stolen or destroyed signs.

“Year after year after year, people feel compelled to pull down other people’s signs,” Peake said.

In years past, Peake said those who stole the signs dumped them in one spot and the Republican Party officials found them and put them back up. Those people have moved their dumping ground now.

“If you get caught, you’re in the court system,” Peake said. “It is disrespectful and it’s not the way to support your candidate. If you want to support a candidate, do it by putting up your own sign. Don’t take other signs down.”

Taking a political sign amounts to larceny, said Capt. Wayne Duff of the Lynchburg Police Department.

“Taking a sign without permission is theft,” he said.

Larceny is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine. Those who spray paint or otherwise mar a sign can be charged with vandalism, which is also a Class 1 misdemeanor.

“I unequivocally condemn any act of vandalism or destruction of political signs of either side,” said Tom Perriello, a congressional candidate, in a news release Friday. “There is no excuse for this kind of behavior and I urge those responsible to stop immediately. We live in a democracy and we must respect the right to free speech. With our fragile economy and two crucial wars overseas, this is a time for serious leadership, not pranks. I hope everyone on both sides will respect that.”

Local party offices pay anywhere from $2 to $50 per sign, said John Lawrence, chairman of Lynchburg’s democratic party. He said it is also difficult to replace signs supporting Obama since they have a limited number and orders for more signs are slow coming.

“It’s a shame that people are trying to stifle freedom of expression and are intolerant for any other point of view,” Lawrence said. “It’s rather juvenile, silly and unfair.”

“The biggest problem I have with it is that these are people who think that we don’t have the right to express our political views and that is not the American way. It’s sad that people can’t let others express their opinions.”