MEGAN LEE Star-Tribune writer | Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:00 am
The signs are everywhere - but less and less so, according to some supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The signs are everywhere - but less and less so, according to some supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Barb Rea, a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Casper, said she's received calls and in-person complaints that campaign signs have gone missing from people's front yards.
'I know I haven't seen as many as we've sold,' she said, 'and there are probably more people having them stolen than have come in or reported it.'
One Obama supporter in Casper, Lindsey Grant, said her sign was stolen from her house at on Beverly Street while she was out of town.
'I was a little upset,' Grant said. 'These people [the thieves] are taking away our freedom of political expression."
Obama yard signs cost $8 each, so having one taken means the sign owners have just lost that money, she said.
Other political yard signs in Grant's yard and in her neighbors' yards were left untouched.
'That's what bothers me, that they'll only take the Obama signs and leave the others,' Rea said. 'That's targeted, and it's specific, and I think that's a sleazy way to voice your opinion. It's such a sad comment on politics in Casper.'
And the problem isn't only occurring in the Casper area, said Michelle Sullivan, Obama campaign state director for Wyoming.
'We're finding that it's happening statewide,' Sullivan said. 'Pretty consistently, people are reporting that their signs have disappeared.'
Signs have gone missing in Sheridan and in various communities in Park County, she said, adding that the problem is most common where more signs are sold.
Sullivan assumes the thefts are related to the huge amount of support the campaign has received in these communities; people want to put the Obama signs up in their own yards, she said, and so take them from others' properties.
'We're always happy to give people signs if they come into the office,' she said.
Amy Larimer, executive director of the Republican Party of Wyoming, said stolen yard signs are always a problem, for both local and national candidates.
'This happens every election,' she said. 'Of course, we don't appreciate it because our candidates spend a lot of money producing those signs.'
Both the Obama campaign and the Republican Party of Wyoming ask that people watch closely for yard sign thieves and that they report the thieves to the police.
Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com