ARLINGTON, Va. — The election season in Virginia is getting testy. This month we’ve seen and heard reports of political signs being stolen.
While stolen political signs are a crime we cover every election season, this year feels particularly charged.
It seems like as the campaign rhetoric ramps up, so has the political vandalism in Arlington.
If you drive across Arlington, you’ll see political election signs lining the sides of the roads and popping up in yard. Like a set of bizarre holiday decorations, the signs sometimes get met with a nod or sometimes trigger worse reactions.
“We do see sign thefts every election cycle, but this is like sign thefts on steroids,” Arlington County GOP chairman Matthew Hurtt said.
Hurtt said this election he has received reports of dozens of signs stolen, possibly up to 100. He has also seen plenty of videos and pictures of thieves caught in the act.
“Over the weekend, a woman in a red Miata stole a yard sign out of a right of way in North Arlington,” he said. “Somebody caught that on camera and then submitted those images to us.”
It’s not just Republicans and Trump signs getting snatched. We’ve also seen reports of Harris-Walz signs taken or cut up. Which led to this statement from Arlington County Democrats:
“From Donald Trump’s abortion bans to his efforts to threaten our democracy, there’s too much on the line in this election, and Arlington Democrats will remain focused on doing the work to turn out voters to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and all of our great local Democratic candidates.”
The Arlington County police report said since September, they’ve had eight reports of stolen signs. But, that’s just the folks who wanted to report it.
Reporting can be difficult depending on where the sign was placed. Take the case of the Trump sign bandit here, this happened in a public easement; no one’s property.
“So the victim in this sign theft would be the Arlington GOP or the Donald Trump campaign,” Hurtt said. “That's the process we're going through when we file these police reports.”
Hurtt added they just replace the signs as soon as they get snatched.
When it comes sign stealing both the Arlington GOP and Democrats said they discourage sign stealing as a way to send a message.
“I tell our Republican voters to leave the other signs alone and to be polite when they encounter voters out here at polling locations,” he said. “Our message is just that we're here.”