Political sign, yard sign, and banner theft.

RSMo §115.637. Class four election offenses. — The following offenses, and any others specifically so described by law, shall be class four election offenses and are deemed misdemeanors not connected with the exercise of the right of suffrage. Conviction for any of these offenses shall be punished by imprisonment of not more than one year or by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars or by both such imprisonment and fine:

[….]

(19) Stealing or willfully defacing, mutilating, or destroying any campaign yard sign on private property, except that this subdivision shall not be construed to interfere with the right of any private property owner to take any action with regard to campaign yard signs on the owner’s property and this subdivision shall not be construed to interfere with the right of any candidate, or the candidate’s designee, to remove the candidate’s campaign yard sign from the owner’s private property after the election day.

[….]

Banners and signs at a Democratic Party event at a rural farmstead in Leeton, Missouri:

Overnight:

Johnson County Missouri Democrats
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So much for political discourse.

If anyone sees this banner, missing two of its corners, there is a [$]200 reward offered by Raymond James for information leading to an arrest of the person or persons who stole it and two other banners.

The banners cut from the metal fence sometime between 1030 pm on the 29 Aug and this morning at 8 am.

Also stolen Respect Mo Voters banner and a Missouri Democrats banner.

Stealing political signs / banners is a felony not a prank.

Stealing any political yard sign is a felony under Missouri state law.

See a sign on someone’s property leave it alone.

You want to disagree? That’s fine. But don’t go stealing stuff that’s not yours. Do better.

The total value of the signs/banners which were stolen was reportedly over $750.00. That’s a Felony in Missouri.

How do we stop this? Start catching and convicting the perpetrator(s).

What you can do:

Write in permanent ink/marker on every yard sign/sign/banner you place in your yard “Stolen from [your address]”. If the sign is recovered or the perpetrator is caught with the sign that is proof that it is your sign.

In a world of relatively inexpensive tracking tags and private surveillance cameras some moron is going to get caught. It’s just a matter of time.