A spate of political sign vandalism in the county has escalated to the point that officials of both major parties came together to implore residents to respect one another's right to free speech.
Democrats say 800 of 4,000 Obama yard signs have been vandalized or stolen, while Republicans say 15 out of 100 4-by-8-foot McCain posters have been damaged and many yard signs stolen.
Two 21-year-old Ellicott City women were arrested and charged with theft after a yard sign was taken from an Ellicott City home just before midnight Oct. 9. The owner of the Burnside Drive home, Kenneth Aldrich, followed the women's vehicle and called police after witnessing the theft.
In hopes of bringing an end to the sign skulduggery, County Executive Ken Ulman, a Democrat, joined county Republican Party chair Joan Becker and county Democratic leader Michael C.A. McPherson on a neighborhood street in Dorsey's Search on Wednesday to urge restraint.
The location was hand-picked. Donald Gifford's yard on Oxbow Court sported a plastic Obama sign, while next door a McCain-Palin sign waved in the breeze at the home of Carl and Joyce Lietzau. Ulman said the resident whose candidate wins plans to hold a block party for the court, which is the kind of neighborly spirit he likes to see.
The sight of a large McCain-Palin sign lying on its side with the center cut out at Folly Quarter and Frederick roads recently prompted Ulman to action, he said. A small Obama sign was found burned elsewhere.
"To me, that crosses a line," Ulman said about both incidents. "We in Howard County really take pride in freedom of expression, including political expression."
Becker said stealing signs does more damage than people might think.
"I never want to hear someone say they're afraid to put one up in their neighborhood," Becker said.
McPherson said thieves and vandals take a selfish view.
"First Amendment rights are very important," he said. "Too often people seem to think that right applies to them and nobody else."
Such acts are not mere pranks and should be taken seriously, Ulman said, adding that no one wants to be arrested and hauled off to central booking.
That's where Grace Chiou and Gillian Lauren Horn were taken after their arrest on U.S. 29 with the Aldrich yard sign in the back seat of their car. Both face theft charges that could result in maximum penalties of a $500 fine and 18 months in jail for taking a $5 yard sign, said police Maj. Gary Gardner.
