Red Deer RCMP are seeking the public’s help in catching vandals responsible for spraypainting and damaging scores of municipal election signs throughout the city.
Several candidates running for public office on Oct. 18 were alerted on Tuesday that a number of their billboard signs were either knocked down or spraypainted with foul language and anti-Semitic graffiti.
Candidates and members of their campaign team were either washing their signs or replacing them.
Some of the signs were found damaged along Taylor Drive near 43rd Street. Damages were reported to police.
RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Kathe DeHeer said solving this crime will require the public’s help because evidence isn’t typically left behind.
“Without the assistance of the general public in identifying the person(s) responsible, we don’t have a lot of leads to go on,” said DeHeer on Tuesday.
People are urged to report suspicious behaviour immediately to RCMP or to Crime Stoppers. Many of the signs are damaged along roads that are busy with traffic through the day and night.
Extra patrols of troublesome areas may be warranted, DeHeer said.
Vandals who are caught can face criminal charges, as well as face fines for defacing property under the city’s Community Standards bylaw. Penalties can range from $200 to $10,000 under the bylaw and, if the fine is not paid, a jail sentence of up to six months.
Gail Parks, running for her second term as city councillor, is growing dismayed by the amount of work done to keep election signs from being destroyed or damaged.
“I feel like a victim,” said Parks.
“If your child is out there doing this, I have a message for you — everyone who puts up those large signs are volunteers, so time is valuable. It’s hurting our pocketbooks and whether you agree with signs or not, vandalism isn’t the way. All it’s doing is making me angry.”
Her campaign team must repair signs almost daily. Some of her small signs that flank billboard signs have disappeared and Parks fears they will end up on neighbourhood lawns where they were not wanted.
“We notify each other when signs are down,” said Parks, regarding co-operation amongst all the candidates.
Despite the frustration felt, Parks said she wouldn’t go without signs at all, as a few candidates have chosen to do.
“It’s an election campaign tool. It’s a short period of time (to use them) and everyone I know takes down their signs election night,” Parks said.
Chris Stephan, a first-time council candidate, was replacing signs on Tuesday with his pregnant wife, as well as their two young children. He used the time as a way to teach his children about respecting other people’s property.
“I am a bit disappointed and I hope that the people, the kids who are vandalizing, that they will either be caught or corrected before their activities become more serious,” said Stephan.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com