Residents struggle with yard sign vandalism

Voting sign vandalism is a crime.

Picture this, you wake up one morning and go to make a pot of coffee. You go outside to get the morning paper and that is when you notice it: your yard sign for your favorite candidate is gone or it has been smashed. Yard sign theft/vandalism is a common activity that occurs every election. It seems that it is almost impossible to avoid.

When someone steals or smashes a sign, we always seem to think that they have no regard for the law. In this case, when someone steals of smashes a yard sign, they are committing criminal mischief. The Iowa Code section 716 defines criminal mischief as “any damage, defacing, alteration, or destruction of property is criminal mischief when done intentionally by one who has no right to act” It also goes on to state the various degrees of criminal mischief.

The destruction of yard signs  is considered criminal mischief in the 5th degree. 5th degree criminal mischief is defined as “All criminal mischief not in the first, second, third, or fourth degree is is criminal mischief in the 5th degree. Criminal mischief in the 5th degree is a simple misdemeanor.” Since yard signs are not valued at $200 or more, yard sign destruction falls under 5th degree criminal mischief.

For residents, there is not much you can do to stop criminal mischief. The best thing to do if this happens to you, is to ignore it and get a new sign. I have found that by ignoring it and not making a big deal about it, you don’t draw attention to the person who did vandalized your sign and thus they don’t feel like they would want to do this again.

However, if you so desire, you can choose to file a police report. When you do this, DON’T call 911 to report a yard sign being stolen or destroyed. Simply call the non-emergency number at 641-672-2559. If you catch the person in the act of smashing a sign, call 911.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail them to us at info@oskynews.org