Sign vandals cost DA candidates

This campaign sign for Lisa Zavogiannis, located on private property, was cut in two by a vandal earlier this week.

?We work too hard to put up these signs, which don?t come cheap by the way, for someone to come out and pull them down or destroy them,? said Democratic DA nominee Lisa Zavogiannis of the recent hit which saw a number of signs vandalized in the Meiser Lane section of the county. ?I think it?s a lack of respect for the property of others. I don?t want to see this happen to my signs, the signs of my opponent, or anyone.?

The Meiser Lane vandals apparently had no political affiliations as large signs, belonging to both Zavogiannis and incumbent DA Dale Potter and spaced only a few feet apart, had been cut in half some time Tuesday morning.

?It appears someone used a knife to cut them all the way down, top to bottom,? Potter said after looking at the signs, which some first thought may have been cut with a chainsaw. ?This seems to happen every election year, no matter what races are going on. We seem to have signs stolen or destroyed.?

The sign damage was not limited to the DA opponents as other signs in the area, belonging to trustee and county court clerk candidates had been cut in a similar fashion, proceeding southward down Old Smithville Road. The disdain for signs also saw a private business sign cut in half.

?Vandalism to signs is a crime and if they are caught they will be prosecuted,? Potter said, noting there have been a few prosecutions over the years for sign removal and vandalism where people were caught taking signs. ?Of course, this is just the latest for me. It seems there?s a new sport out where some folks try to dodge off the road in their cars and run over my signs. I have a picture of one who must have damaged their car pretty good when they went into a deep ditch just to hit a sign.?

Zavogiannis said she has experienced similar vandalisms to her signs, some of which have disappeared without a trace during the course of the campaign.