Vandals Destroy, Steal Political Signs In Claremore

Vandals are targeting political signs across the city of Claremore - just days before Tuesday's election. People in Claremore are not sure exactly how many signs have been affected and at this point, they just want those responsible to be respectful and stop.

It's almost election day in Oklahoma. 

As voters get ready to head to the polls, vandals damage and steal political campaign signs all across Claremore.

Mary and Ken Legan said it happened to signs they placed on their property.

"The Marty Quinn sign was a large one," said Mary Legan of Claremore. "It was here on the fence, and then the smaller ones were out by the street. They took all of them."

"I would like to have them reprimanded by the police," said Ken Legan, theft victim. 

"Put it on their record to let everybody else know they're thieves."

Republican Marty Quinn is running for re-election for State Senate District 2. He says his signs are taking the brunt of the vandalism and has had campaign signs damaged or stolen. 

"I think everybody has the right to disagree, but we ought to disagree in the right manner and this is not the way to do that," he said.

Volunteers working for his opponent, Jennifer Esau, say one of her signs was also damaged. 

"We had a case yesterday. One of our signs was in half, but it wasn't anything that we worry too much about," said Drew Cummings, a volunteer with the Jennifer Esau campaign.

No matter how many signs are destroyed, Mary and Ken Legan say their family will keep replacing them. Ken says they aren't backing down because of their political stance.

"The neighbors are all looking, and there are some hidden cameras around that no one knows about," Ken Legan said."We'll catch them, and we're going to turn them over to the police."

The Legans say police are looking into the matter, but until charges are filed, candidates are left to pay the bill and clean up the mess.