Political signs stolen as presidential election approaches

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, political signs are both appearing and, in some cases, disappearing.

In and around the Oxford area, there has been a recent influx of reports of yard signs being stolen. Often, these signs are stolen in the middle of the night, and residents are unable to see where they have gone.

Mark Mortine, an Oxford resident and former Talawanda High School teacher, said many of the Biden signs on his street have been taken. He noted that none of the Trump signs have been touched.

"I let the dog out ... kinda late, a little bit before midnight probably, and I noticed that I didn't see the Biden sign out in the yard," Mortine said. "I thought maybe it fell down, so I didn't really pay much attention. I said I'd look in the morning, and sure enough, in the morning, it wasn't there, so I walked the dog, and there were three other neighbors that had Biden signs out, and theirs were gone, too."

Along with Mortine, Glenn Platt, a Miami University professor who lives in Milford Township, about a mile from Oxford, had both a Biden and a Black Lives Matter sign taken from his yard.

"It was about three in the morning,” Platt said. “A pick up truck pulled up in our yard and revved the engine and yelled some things. But we couldn't understand what they were saying. They took the Black Lives Matter sign, and they took the Biden sign. And then they dumped our garbage — because it was garbage night — in the yard and threw our garbage cans toward the creek. Not quite in the creek — I think it was an attempt — and then they drove off."

Mortine filed a police report, but Platt decided against it. Platt said there was not much evidence, and "it seemed like it would be a pointless task."

Following the theft, Mortine, his neighbors and Platt have all replaced their signs, and Platt has begun working on solutions.

"In the days that follow, you're just sort of thinking, 'What can I do to prevent this from happening again?'" Platt said. "We discussed everything from, 'Can we electrify the sign?' to now just taking our sign in every night. We go out around dusk and bring the sign in and put it back out again in the morning, thinking that people would only do this in the cover of darkness."

According to Lieutenant Lara Fening of the Oxford Police Department, the same kind of thefts happen every four years, and in past election years, the perpetrators have often been teenagers.

Mortine, a former teacher, said some of his students had admitted to stealing political signs.

"While I was teaching, I had a student tell me that she and her friend went out and took political signs — this was probably about 12 years ago — and I said, 'You can't do that, taking people's signs,' and she said, 'Well, my mom was driving us,' and I said, 'Well, she can get in trouble, too, even more so probably,' and I left it there."

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While teaching, Mortine said the actions of his students were similar to the actions happening now.

"I remember when Trump got the nomination, then when he won, some of the students were going around going 'Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!' like that,” Mortine said. “And I said, 'Hey, none of the political talk in here.' I think they enjoyed shoving it in the face of their classmates they knew were not for Trump."

While both of these cases are of Democratic candidates' signs being stolen, Fening said there have been a mostly equal amount of reports of both sides having missing signs. To prevent the theft of signs, Fening recommended a few different strategies.

"I would not put it so close to the roadway," Fening said. "I would probably either put it strategically closer to my house ... or make it a little more difficult: Put it in landscaping where it could be seen but may be a little bit more difficult to get to."

Fening also suggested residents report any suspicious activity.

"If you live in a neighborhood, you know the habits and traffic of that neighborhood and what is normal, the pattern of that neighborhood," Fening said. "When something is different, you take notice, and you should take notice. It should catch your eye. Once it catches your eye, that's when you should take a look and say, 'What are they doing?'"

After the theft, Platt said he is confused more than anything.

"It's striking just for the senselessness of it," Platt said. "In an election cycle where most people have probably already made up their minds, adding or removing signs is unlikely to make a difference. It's clearly an act of aggression, as opposed to even politically motivated, which is disappointing."

robbinha@miamioh.edu