JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Political yard signs are another way for people to advocate for who they're supporting, outside of their vote. Though a yard sign doesn't hold as much weight as bubbling in a candidate on a ballot, homeowners say having their signs stolen is a violation of personal property and opinion.
Genesee homeowner Cindy Savage has been a victim of stolen signs twice in the span of two weeks.
"So I put out a Harris-Walz sign, and I put it, there’s only a small location where it’s visible from the street at my house," Savage said. "So I put out the first one and it lasted, I’m not sure, maybe two or three days, and it was gone."
Savage said she replaced the sign with another. She said that one lasted longer, five days, until it fell to the same fate.
"Then it disappeared again," Savage said. "So that really made me mad."
Savage said she called her homeowners' association to see if someone there took them. She said her HOA told her they weren't taking signs from homes and she had been the third caller with the same complaint.
She later learned the issue wasn't just happening in her neighborhood.
"So then, I called the JeffCo Dems office in Lakewood to see if they had more signs so I could pick up more replacement signs," Savage said. "And they said they’ve had a lot of people coming in, saying their signs had been stolen."
Jefferson County Democratic Party chair Kathryn Wallace said the office has had 30 to 40 reports of stolen signs over the past few months.
Wallace started with the office in 2008, when Barack Obama was running for president. She said she remembers similar issues from that time period.
"I have a very clear memory of people coming into the Obama campaign office and saying, 'Oh my sign was stolen,' and the organizer there just said, 'I’m not surprised,'" Wallace said.
Despite its commonplace nature, Wallace said the act of stealing signs is a crime.
"It is both trespassing and theft, so don’t do it, and we certainly don’t want any of our people out there stealing signs," Wallace said.
Jefferson County Republican Party chair Nancy Pallozzi said her office is seeing similar issues. She said they've received so many calls in regard to political signs, it's hard to quantify just how many people have reached out.
She said she's received reports Trump signs have been both stolen and vandalized with graffiti.
Pallozzi said yard signs are a demonstration of the freedom of speech and people taking them is them not being accepting of that person's First Amendment right.
Wallace said her office is happy to replace anyone's Harris-Walz signs. She said she has hundreds to distribute as needed.
She hopes in addition to being vigilant against yard sign thieves, people acknowledge the best way to make their voices heard.
"It’s not a yard sign war for us," Wallace said. "We care about what people are doing hopefully right now, today, which is voting. If you haven’t voted, do it now. That’s what matters. The actual votes."
Savage said in response to her two signs being stolen, she got two more signs. She said she hopes the effort makes it harder for thieves to try and silence her.
"I really want to advocate for who I think would be the best president," Savage said. "It just offends me to have it stolen and so I wanted to replace it and make sure my voice was heard."
Savage said though she knows there are people who disagree with her, she isn't choosing to take other people's signs. She hopes one day, people can express their differences through conversation.
"I’d rather people try to work it out and come together," Savage said. "I think if you dig down, people really care about the same thing. They just have different solutions."
