Jul. 16—The 2025 municipal campaigns are in full swing, and candidates are reporting stolen signs.
Pam Werstler, a City Council District 4 candidate, this week said she filed a report with Decatur Police that she had three signs stolen.
She said she checked with Parks and Recreation, which removes signs if they are placed in the city’s rights of ways, and her signs were not among those recently removed.
The city notifies the candidates if their signs are removed so they can retrieve them before they’re thrown in the trash.
“We’re not talking about a lot of money, but there is an expense,” Werstler said. “That’s not only theft for stealing the signs, it’s also election interference.”
DPD spokeswoman Irene Cardenas-Martinez said Werstler is the first candidate to file a report in this campaign. However, several other candidates told The Decatur Daily that they also had signs stolen.
Cardenas-Martinez said stealing signs is a misdemeanor theft, criminal mischief and/or third-degree trespassing, depending on the location of the sign and whether it was on private property.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432