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Read comments (6)The sign he put up two days earlier, supporting a candidate running for office this fall, was missing.
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"We have had some energetic people taking signs from all over the place," said Le Mars Police Chief Stu Dekkenga. "We had a call this morning on missing real estate signs, too."
Sign stealing is treated as a criminal matter in Iowa.
"It's usually theft in the fifth degree, as long as the value of the sign is below $200," said County Attorney Darin Raymond.
In other words, pulling a sign out of someone's yard and taking it could land a person in jail up to 30 days and cost him or her a fine, he explained.
"It could be up to a $500 fine plus a 32 percent surcharge," Raymond said. "And if they were put on probation there would be a $300 probation supervision fee."
People who notice missing signs or see someone taking a sign can report the theft to the police.
Although campaign signs are part of a political election, there are no special penalties for stealing them compared to other signs, according to Charles Smithson, executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.
"Campaign laws don't speak to taking signs -- only to where you can put them," he said. "To me all signs are treated the same."
Kids should probably be at home 2 in the morning. Unless you are a responsible adult I don't see any reason for a kid to be out at that time at night. Growing up I was always told nothing good happens after 12 am anyways, which apparently it doesn't, because now we have kids vandalizing and stealing stuff. (However, I'm not blaming it all on kids, it could very well be adults!)I also agree that there is nothing to do in this town, trust me I was a child once but, when I was growing up we found stuff to do that wasn't vandalizing anything or harmful to others, maybe ourselves yes, which isn't right either, but never harmful to others. There needs to be more stuff for people in general to do here. Le Mars can be very lame. The cops don't help out either though kids do try to find something to do and there going to be right there thinking everyone is doing drugs or drinking when really I feel there drug problem should be focused on the higher class in this town, they are the ones with the problem!!!!!!
Possibly what we should worry about more than a sign is the fact that there are young people walking and skate boarding down the streets at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. I see them why don't the local police?
I think what people fail to realize is that by tampering with election signs they are tampering with the democratic process. The display of campaign signs is representative of the number of supporters a candidate has. Furthermore, the purchase of those signs is made through the donations of supporters. I hate to think that the newly laid-off worker who just donated the only spare dollars he had to my campaign, because he believes in me, went to pay for some yard signs that were only displayed for a day or two before being stolen.
I think the point is to show what punishment COULD be imposed so hopefully those doing the stealing think twice before doing so again. That isn't to say everyone caught would definitely receive the maximum punishment. That said, my candidate is operating on a tight budget, unlike his opponent, who receives PAC and special interest funds. These signs represent a significant portion of our campaign dollars. Also, if it were just one sign stolen it might not have been so bad, but when there seems to be a pattern of multiple signs being stolen from a particular person's campaign, I appreciate anything the authorities can do to discourage the person or persons from such activity.
Oh wow, stealing a campaign sign could land you in jail. Do our police authority have nothing better to do than watch for whomever stealing signs, give me a break. Maybe some people have strong feelings about a certain someone and their reality signs, they probably shouldn't have their sign up, I don't see good sales for them when ya do what ya did in this town, but to each there own.
I feel for you lol My sign too was stolen! But thanks to Mark Sturgeon I now have a new one! Thanks Mark!