General Discussion

frogmarch

(12,153 posts) Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:27 PM Oct 2012

Do laws pertaining to stealing political lawn signs vary

from state to state (or district to district, town to town, etc.)?

My husband saw a guy steal a Democratic campaign sign from a neighbor’s lawn this morning and replace it with a republican campaign sign. Mr. froggy told the neighbor and gave him the license plate number of the thief’s pickup truck The neighbor whose sign was stolen is our Democratic County Chair. We hope he pursues it and that the thief gets charged with something that will cost him.

7 replies

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Do laws pertaining to stealing political lawn signs vary (Original Post) frogmarch Oct 2012 OP

if you own it and it's on your property and taken, it is theft, political or not nt msongs Oct 2012 #1

Thanks. nt frogmarch Oct 2012 #2

And replacing it with a repuke sign may also be littering or "illegal dumping". hughee99 Oct 2012 #4

It's at LEAST littering. HopeHoops Oct 2012 #7

Yes, the laws do vary. ManiacJoe Oct 2012 #3

As far as I know, if it's on my property and it "dissapears" its theft! bama2012 Oct 2012 #5

It's still theft if it's within the property line (which usually means 2' off the sidewalk). HopeHoops Oct 2012 #6

msongs

(67,406 posts)

1. if you own it and it's on your property and taken, it is theft, political or not nt

Reply to frogmarch (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:45 PM

Oct 2012

frogmarch

(12,153 posts)

2. Thanks. nt

Reply to msongs (Reply #1)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:48 PM

Oct 2012

hughee99

(16,113 posts)

4. And replacing it with a repuke sign may also be littering or "illegal dumping".

Reply to msongs (Reply #1)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:54 PM

Oct 2012

The specifics may vary from place to place, but it's not legal anywhere.

HopeHoops

(47,675 posts)

7. It's at LEAST littering.

Reply to hughee99 (Reply #4)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 04:01 PM

Oct 2012

ManiacJoe

(10,136 posts)

3. Yes, the laws do vary.

Reply to frogmarch (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:51 PM

Oct 2012

bama2012

(25 posts)

5. As far as I know, if it's on my property and it "dissapears" its theft!

Reply to frogmarch (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 03:56 PM

Oct 2012

HopeHoops

(47,675 posts)

6. It's still theft if it's within the property line (which usually means 2' off the sidewalk).

Reply to frogmarch (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 04:01 PM

Oct 2012

If you put it on the curb side of the sidewalk, it's in a public zone like one on the highway. What's worse is people putting bumper stickers on other people's cars. That's a rather nasty but common practice, and theme parks used to do it regularly but aren't allowed to anymore. You need to catch them in the act, get pictures (license plate's good), and call the police immediately. It's illegal.

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