Campaign sign thefts cost candidates

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.– A homemade sign in Santa Barbara's San Roque neighborhood reads "Stop Sign Vandals," and it is next to a sign with transposed letters against a Presidential candidate.

"I think that this year there have been a lot more than we have seen in past years," said Suzanne Cohen, who serves as President of the Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County.

Presidential signs are usually paid for with donations.

South County Field Organizer, Hannah Cohen, said more than a dozen voters have stopped by or called the Democratic Headquarters about missing signs.

She said proposition signs have been taken, too.

A school board candidate says she has had to replace several signs she paid for on the Mesa.

Thieves and vandals have targeted dozens of signs supporting the Santa Barbara City Council incumbent on the East Side of Santa Barbara.

A grocery store supporting her had to clean marks left on a window.

Some surveillance cameras have captured the thefts that have been reported to the police.

Suzanne Cohen calls it a crime and a form of intimidation.

"Stealing signs is a form of voter intimidation, it is someone coming onto private property, it's someone coming into your yard or around your home and there either vandalizing with spray paint or taking something from you."

Your News Channel will have more on the missing signs tonight on the news.