Vandals Snatch Political Lawn Signs From Entire Block

Thursday, 13 political lawn signs were snatched from a single block in the Windom neighborhood, according to two reports filed by officers of the Minneapolis Police Department. 

While the police report doesn't say which kinds of signs were taken, opponents of a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage sometimes try to get neighbors who share their opinions to help line their block with signs urge passers-by to "Vote No." Many blocks in Southwest Minneapolis have been adorned with these phalanxes of orange squares.

12 of Thursday's sign thefts all happened within the space of an hour, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. The thirteenth political lawn sign was stolen around an hour earlier on the same block. 

Reported sign thefts on either side of the marriage amendment have been relatively rare in Southwest Minneapolis as election day approaches. Both Minnesotans United for All Families and Minnesota For Marriage have been urging supporters to report incidents of sign theft. At least two Minneapolis homes have had their "Vote No" signs taken, and at least one more home has had its "Vote Yes" sign taken in recent months. However, other communities like Minnetonka have struggled with vandals stealing political signs.

In some cases, homeowners have responded to sign thefts by blanketing their lawns with copies of the missing signs.