Vandals striking Trump signs throughout county
Republican Central Committee happy with sign demand, though
All over the county, Donald Trump campaign signs are being vandalized or stolen, according to the Charles County Republican Central Committee, and they want it to stop. On Wednesday, they reported the problem to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’ve given out over 1,450 signs,” said Bill Dotson, chairman of the county Republican central committee. “If you go through Charles or St. Mary’s, we’ve pretty much plastered Southern Maryland with the yard signs.”
“Eight four-by-eight signs have been spray-painted, and we’re estimating at least 400 of the yard signs have been stolen,” he said, adding that he has seen many of the same people are returning to the office in White Plains after a week or two to get replacements.
An installed four-by-eight sign costs about $100, Dotson explained, and now that several have had profanity and graffiti spray painted on them, they are frustrated about not being able to spread more signs due to the limited number in stock.
“I just don’t think people realize that it’s not a gag, it’s a federal offense,” Dotson continued. “… Whether you support Hillary [Clinton] or Trump, Kathy [Szeliga] or [Chris] Van Hollen, this is America. You respect people’s signs.”
Dotson said he even witnessed a group of young adults pull their car over and steal three Trump signs that stood in front of the committee’s office.
Though, despite the thefts and vandalism, he is pleased with the high demand for the signs.
“The positive side is the fact that we’ve had over 1,400 signs given out. The response to the campaign headquarters has been overwhelming,” Dotson said. “They’re coming in, they want the signs. It was almost hysteria at the fair last month … it was like we were giving away free vacation tickets.”