Shortly after Trump for President signs placed alongside Piscataquis County roads began disappearing, an amateur sleuth discovered the signs piled up behind the Maine Democratic Party’s HQ in the county, prompting a statement from local law enforcement.
A Piscataquis County woman had previously placed political signs criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris on the public land outside the Democrat’s office.
“So we put signs out here, or I did, two days in a row, at the Piscataquis Democrat headquarters, and since it’s a felony to remove signs, or so I’ve been told, and we have to be tolerant, I came to check and see if we knew where they were,” the woman said in a video provided to The Maine Wire.
She discovered the signs piled behind the Democratic office, and suggested that they had been taken down by Democrats working for the party in the office. It’s unclear who the culprit is behind the mysterious disappearing signs.
It is a finable civil offense (not a felony) in Maine to remove lawfully placed political signs.
Removing or defacing a political sign lawfully placed by someone else carries a potential fine of $250 per offense.
The Piscataquis County GOP alerted the local police to the theft of the pro-Trump signs and asked them to remind locals not to steal political signs.
The local Dover-Foxcroft Police Department put out a statement on the situation, reminding residents that it is illegal to take down their opponents’ signs.
“Over the weekend the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department received several complaints regarding the removal of political signs from the public easements along W Main St. and Park St. It was requested that no action be taken but we were asked to remind folks that tampering with, or removal of, political signs from any public way or private property (that isn’t yours or part of a public easement) is a violation of Maine law,” said the Dover-Foxtrot Police Department on Facebook.
According to police, the Republicans did not want to press charges to impose the $250 fine per sign on the Democrats.
Police also revealed that other political signs on Park St. had been removed. The county GOP confirmed that those signs were also theirs.
The Piscataquis County Democrats issued their own statement urging Democrats not to take down the signs, seemingly acknowledging that Democrats were to blame.
“Hey Democratic Neighbors. Please don’t take down the opposition signs that were placed in front of our headquarters because it leads to these kinds of messages,” said the Piscataquis Democrats.
They then cited specific messages they received from conservative activist Skip Dunning, demanding an explanation for the signs’ removal.
The Democrats told Dunning they were unaware of any Democrats taking down Republican signs and claimed, without citing any examples, that their own signs had been removed.
“Signs placed on public land were found behind your building. Please don’t insult my intelligence by saying you knew nothing about it,” said Dunning.
The County Democrats’ post only cited Dunning’s messages as a reason for their party members to stop taking down signs. They did not cite the law as a reason to stop removing signs illegally.
An internal communication from Republican Party officials suggests that the GOP have been careful not to remove their opponents’ signs.
“We have been making sure the Republicans don’t remove the Dem signs outside the Republican office,” said the Republican official in a personal communication provided to The Maine Wire.
The Maine Wire reached out to both the Piscataquis County Democrats and the Maine Democrats, requesting comments on the incident. Neither office immediately responded to the requests for comment.
0 Comments