In the charged political atmosphere heading into the 2024 election, thefts of presidential campaign signs have rankled some Aroostook County residents.
Nearly 80 Kamala Harris/Tim Walz signs have gone missing since the party set up its Presque Isle headquarters last month, according to Aroostook County Democrats chairman George Gartley.
“People are coming in left and right saying their signs were stolen,” Gartley said. “This has got to stop. It’s illegal and it’s reached a point where it’s unconscionable.”
No one has reported local or state campaign signs being taken, but Harris-Walz signs have disappeared from both public and private property over the last few weeks, he said.
Gartley’s own signs were stolen. He built a wooden frame to hold three Harris-Walz signs and pounded it into the ground at his property in Presque Isle, on a hill away from the roadway. He left home briefly Wednesday morning, but when he returned, the frame and signs were gone, he said.
He reported the theft to local police.
The Presque Isle Police Department has received a few reports of Harris-Walz signs being stolen, Sgt. Eric Depner said Wednesday. There haven’t been complaints from people losing Trump-Vance signs.
Officers forwarded the complaints to Presque Isle City Hall, and officials notified the Department of Transportation, Depner said.
Political signs are considered temporary signs under Maine Department of Transporation highway law. Stealing, defacing or disturbing signs on public ways is a civil crime punishable by up to a $250 fine.
Those who steal signs from private property could be charged with theft, a Class E crime punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Maine law defines theft as unauthorized taking of the property of another with the intent to deprive that person of the property.
Thefts have happened elsewhere. A Caribou resident recently reported the theft of a Harris-Walz sign from her property, Caribou Police Sgt. Keith Ouellette said. A sign for Samantha Paradis, running for the Maine House in District 4, was also reported missing.
In Camden, about 15 Harris-Walz signs were stolen from Oct. 1 through Oct. 3, Camden Police Detective Aaron Bailey said Wednesday.
“We had a three-day streak,” he said. “On Oct. 3, we had a lady who posted on the Camden web page that she found a pile of them next to her house in the woods.”
All the signs have been claimed, and no more have been stolen so far, Bailey said.
Harris-Walz signs have been taken in Orono, Dixmont and elsewhere in Maine, according to the Maine Morning Star.
In Presque Isle on Wednesday, Trump-Vance signs were visible at several roadways and intersections. Harris-Walz signs were not seen.
Efforts to determine if Trump-Vance signs are also going missing in Aroostook County were unsuccessful.
Julie Chapla is the Aroostook County Republican Committee chair, according to Maine GOP. Chapla did not respond to requests for comment.
The Republican Committee’s field office in Caribou did not return a request for comment.
