Itasca County Sheriff Vic Williams confirmed on Monday that a "rash of Joe Radinovich signs" have disappeared in the county, among other political signs.
The Itasca County Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party began reporting the missing signs on social media over the weekend, saying it was a larger number than usually expected during election season. The party unit reported the thefts to the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Itasca County Sheriff's Office, it said in a statement to the News Tribune.
Radinovich is involved in a tight race for Congress in the 8th Congressional District against Republican Pete Stauber and Independence Party candidate Ray "Skip" Sandman.
"We've had signs as large as 4-by-8 feet stolen from a private yard in the middle of town, as well as signs in our rural areas vanishing at all times of the day and night," the Itasca DFL said in a statement to the News Tribune.
Williams wouldn't say how many signs have been taken, or if there was some type of coordinated effort as the local DFL unit said it suspected was the case. Williams compared the latest wave of sign removals to 2016, when he said his department found signs in piles in the woods.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I know the other campaign committees will tell you signs are missing on both sides," Williams said, adding that some of his own campaign signs are turning up missing. Williams is running for sheriff against former deputy Bryan Johnson.
Williams went on to say that it's difficult to pursue the cases, short of catching someone in the act or on a trail camera.
"It's clandestine," he said. "They know what they're doing is wrong, but the last thing they'll do is something that ties back to them. They pull them and throw them."
Taking someone else's political signs amounts to property theft.
Williams said he wished people would understand the work and resources that go into placing the signs - the volunteer hours and the financial cost of the signs to the supporters who place them.
"People have a right to choose who they support," he said. "It doesn't matter what position you take in an election, you should respect people and who they choose to support."
