Published: October 22, 2008 11:26 pm         

Thefts, vandalisms hit campaign 2008

Campaign sign thefts are a part of any election, local law enforcement officials say; however, they do want people to report sign thefts and also any other vandalism related to the elections.

Some local residents have expressed concern over thefts and destruction of Barack Obama campaign signs, saying sign thefts seem to be more numerous than previous years. They also say they are concerned about other incidents they believe are related to their support of the Obama-Biden ticket.

Kristi Balden, a local Democrat, said she has had her Obama sign stolen many times. She related one early-morning incident recently in which she heard someone yell a racial epithet as they stole her sign.

Capt. Brian O’Rourke, with the Enid Police Department, said police have not received many reports of signs being stolen or any other campaign vandalism. Officially, there have been only two sign theft reports — one Obama and one McCain.

Sandra Stuart, Garfield County Democrats chairman, said the county campaign has replaced at least 50 signs. She and Balden said they have had reports of signs being stolen, ripped up and torn up.

Mary Rumph, Garfield County Republicans chairman, said their campaign also has had to replace stolen McCain-Palin signs.

“We’ve lost several signs,” Rumph said. “One man has lost two. He was sitting on his porch (the last time) and saw a man drive up and throw it in the back of his truck.”

Stuart and Balden say sign thefts aren’t the only problem this year. Both women have had their cars sporting Obama stickers or magnets “keyed” or scratched during daylight hours. Stuart said the tires were slashed on her son’s car last weekend. They also said Obama supporters have had their cars and houses egged.

Christian Balden, a student at Okla-homa City Univer-sity who has been politically active in several campaigns, said he believes campaign vandalism is worse for this presidential race and has escalated in the last couple of weeks.

“I don’t think anyone should have their property attacked because they put a sign in their yard or a bumper sticker on their car,” he said.

The Baldens and others also report racially offensive text messages regarding the Obama campaign have been sent to some students at Enid High School. Principal Jim Bier-schmidt said he had not received any complaints about the text messages, and he would like to know about it if they occur again.

O’Rourke said people need to report crimes, such as cars being keyed. He also said the police department is willing to send an officer out to any call, even if it is just a political sign being stolen or destroyed. He said an officer has to make a report for the crime to be logged.

“We can’t be expected to do anything about it if we don’t know about it,” he said. “If a crime has racial overtones, that’s a hate crime and that’s something we can investigate.”

O’Rourke said the police may not solve the sign thefts or vandalism; however, if they have reports, they may be able to put together a case if they eventually get more information or suspects in other cases.

“It’s (sign stealing) a minor theft, obviously, and a minor vandalism,” he said. “But, if people are concerned it’s being done because of a candidate’s race, that is an issue. We should be made aware of it.”