Click Here

McCain, Obama signs reported stolen from supporters' yards

McCain sign

Raleigh police say they've received reports of dozens of presidential campaign signs in people's yards being stolen or defaced.

Haze Lancaster said he didn't think much about it when the first sign supporting Sen. John McCain disappeared from his front yard. But when it kept happening, he bought an infrared camera to try to catch the culprit.

"I probably had about 30 signs," Lancaster said. "It's a violation of free speech, and it's also stealing."

Someone has also stolen two signs supporting Sen. Barack Obama from Donna Wolcutt's home near North Carolina State University. Now, she says, her neighbors have resorted to posting signs on their houses.

"It does make you sad to think that you can't put a sign up in your yard," Wolcutt said.

In another case, someone stole a woman's Obama signs and left dead mice in their place.

"It's a cowardly way of doing something," said Grace Stroud.

Stroud's sign supporting Obama is still standing on her lawn, but someone threw a packet of material on her lawn attacking the Illinois senator.

"There's more appropriate ways than just lobbing material that's obviously meant to be derogatory on someone's lawn," Stroud said.

Raleigh police say they've received nine reports of approximately 24 signs stolen – about an even number of signs supporting both candidates.

They say it's a difficult crime to solve unless thieves are caught in the act.



88 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Photo Spotlight
*
*
*
*
*
*
[+] more photos | submit your photos
Report It
Send us your news photos, videos, tips and story ideas.
Submit Videos Submit Photos Submit Reports
  1. County Unemployment Rates
    North Carolina jobless rates

    View an interactive map with county unemployment numbers.

  2. Drought Map
    A year of N.C. Drought Maps

    View a time lapse animation of drought conditions during the last year.

  3. Twitter
    Follow WRAL News on Twitter

    Keep up with what the WRAL News team is doing on air and online with Twitter.

  4. taxes
    Search for missing IRS refunds

    The Internal Revenue Service released the names this week of more than 100,000 taxpayers who have not received their 2009 income tax refund.

  5. Gov. Mike Easley
    Easley investigation timeline

    View an interactive timeline of the Easley investigation.

Click Here