OPP called in After election signs stolen in Russell

Pierre Leroux, the Liberal candidate in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, says it will be several days before he and his team can replace dozens of election signs that were stolen overnight Saturday night in a what he called a “co-ordinated and targeted” attack.

Leroux, the mayor of Russell, got a text from a friend early Sunday morning that said one of his campaign signs had been taken overnight.

“I thought, ‘Oh that’s weird. It’s probably just kids screwing around. I’ll bring him another one,’ ” Leroux said Sunday.

“When I went out driving I was, ‘Hey, I put a sign there yesterday and now it’s gone. Hey, I put a sign there yesterday and now it’s gone’. I decided I should drive around town, and that’s when I noticed the most of my signs were gone.”

In all, Leroux said, about a dozen large signs, each four feet by eight feet, were taken, along with a dozen more medium-sized signs and even more smaller lawn signs. A witness saw someone loading the stolen signs into a dark pickup truck. Leroux has filed a report with the OPP.

“It’s unfortunate because these signs were paid for by people’s donations, and volunteers took time out of their busy lives to put them up. Now we’ll have to do it again.”

One was fastened into a wooden frame with about 20 screws.

“They actually took the time to unscrew every screw. I’m like, ‘Seriously? It’s 3 a.m.’ You’d think they had a better thing to do.”

The thefts seem to be concentrated in Russell Township, which is just part of the sprawling riding.

The thefts come days after Leroux found himself in hot water for posting a video online that insinuated Leroux’s former community, Vanier, was crime-infested. Leroux said he’s certain the thefts are “totally unrelated” to that controversy.

He said he’s received a lot of support from the township.

“The feedback from the community online has been fantastic. Everyone’s upset. This sort of thing doesn’t normally happen in Russell Township.

“It’s a short campaign — three weeks to go — so hopefully it doesn’t happen again and we just move on.”