I have one question Betsy, why do you feel the need to advertise your beliefs with a lawn sign? Why does anyone? Do you think your sign will sway anyone's opinion?
Someone else's sign has never made me re-think where I stand and I highly doubt
any sign would change your mind. Do not get me wrong, a display of beliefs should never give anyone the right to trespass or destroy property. Ultimately what matters is your conscientious vote not lawn decor.

J. Lyn,
You ask if lawn signs make a difference. Just ask HP's mayor.
A number of years ago when she decided to run for City Council, the three incumbents decided not to use lawn signs for a variety of reasons. Nancy didn't go along with the plan and won! She was an unknown at the time and name recognition made a big difference.
Both major political parties try swaying the independent and voter who is on the fence, so maybe lawn signs do matter.

I also have had lawn signs stolen/vandalized.
Both my kids participate in multiple sports at DHS so we always seem to have a sports related yard sign stuck in our yard just before a conference meet. These signs seem to disappear within a day or two of being planted. Maybe the vandals are oppossed to public education?
Given the preponderance of Obama bumperstickers I see on cars parked around Deerfield then (based on your logic) we should hear about the number of cars that are being vandalized by some members of an evil right wing hate group.
As the saying (sort of) goes "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and an easy target for kids with nothing to do rises to political censorship"

More than half of the country do not think Obamas have made them proud to be an American... so its a war out there and no sign is safe anymore. I'm sure you will try to steall the Mitt signs too.

Obama wants to change America and Republicans do not think we need to change it
so that he has more power.. SO signs will be everywhere soon.

Theft of yard signs is just the canary in the coal mine. Theft of the truth, is next. If Murdoch goes down in the UK, then maybe the investigations will begin here. Fox is in for a fix and I can barely wait long enough for it to happen. How could Hannity grab all those signs? I'll never figure it out. There's hope for the truth to prevail. Until then, just keep buying yard signs. My neighbor greases his, so at least the offender gets white grease all over his clothes and the upholstery of his dads Land Rover.

The sheep need to get their signs out.....lol

I liked your response Betsy. You have a right to put a sign on your property if you so choose...and that's the bottom line.

Deadcatbounce,
My comment was based on facts and said absolutely nothing about the way I vote.
I just wanted to point out that some votes can be swayed by signs. I believe many people who vote and don't take the time to learn what the candidates' positions are and just vote because they think it's something they ought to do.
What percent of eligible voters actually vote? It's a pitifully small number and indicative of how things are. If you don't vote, don't complain about your elected officials.

I'm thinking this is more an act of middle school or high school kids with nothing better to do. As a matter of fact, I speak from experience. While I've never had a political sign in my yard, I have twice been the victim of juvenile vandalism when it comes to yard decorations. One year a bunch of kids tore up my inflatable Halloween decoration, and another year, I caught them red-handed trying to steal my Christmas decorations. While I wasn't happy about either incident, (esp. the Halloween decoration b/c that was a $150 loss) I know the kids meant no harm and were just being inconsiderate brats. When the Christmas decorations where messed with, I didn't jump to conclusions thinking it was a religous-based act. Just kids doing stupid stuff.

Interesting post, Betsy. Just asking... could your sign have been placed in the parkway? Between the sidewalk and the street? If it is, then the village will come and remove those signs. They don't allow signs there... From your picture, it doesn't look like it, but just asking.

Hey Betsy,
What or who do you owe that you need to have a political sign for an existing office holder on display at your house year round....who are you kidding ?

Her posting is about someone stealing something from her yard. The fact that it is an Obama sign expresses Betsy's intellect, but is not relevant to the story. Making the length of display relevant may be a sign of your political leanings. That's rhetorical, Padraig, no need to answer.

Betsy,

Don't beg the punks to leave your sign. Take back your yard. Try a pit bull and an invisible fence.

It is quite obvious that it is not just about "the sign" being stolen. If that were the case she wouldn't have posted the picture and rant and rave about her political views. In addition, I think she has WAY too much time oh her hands to place a phone call to the police to see if they took her signs.

Some of the comments make me chuckle (especially the one where Hilter was brought into the discussion). The premise of Betsy's post is vandalism and the item vandalized just happens to be a sign for a cadidate. If it's kids doing the damage, then their parents are at fault for not teaching them to respect other peoples' property rights. If it's political opponents doing the mischief, then they make the Pepublicans look bad. Either way, Betsy has a right to express her opinions as long as her actions are within the law. The vandels are breaking the law. It's that simple IMHO.

Put a camera up - watch the thing, find out who's doing it and take appropriate action.

Although, if it's a wayward wildlife creature and not a wayward human, we want to see the video on YouTube! :-)

Building Division of Deerfield States:
Q: Where can political signs be placed and when are they allowed?
A: Political signs are only allowed to be placed on private property. Time limits for political signs are requested to be no more than (30) days prior to an election and removed (7) days following an election.

This is a zoning issue - for the sake of the neighborhood. I agree with "unexceptional". Our suburb has similar rules. There should be time limits, and during those five weeks, all political candidates' signs should be allowed and respected.

Thanks for the update, David Greenberg. I'm going to get a Mitt Romney sign as soon as I can and display it on my lawn for the next six months! President Obama has added 5 trillion to America's debt in 39 months. That's not "FAIR" to future generations. He needs to be voted out of office.

I just posted a new photo of my sign. Today someone cut it to shreds. This makes me so angry!!!

Every year, my husband puts up a large heart shaped Valentine on our property (which has been an annual tradition for over 20 years). One year, it was stolen & several years later, obscenities were scrawled over it.

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with one's choice of Candidates, but the right to display a sign on private property. To use this forum to chastise the author or anyone else on their political choices is irrelevant.

Mosaic... Not one person who has commented here debated Betsy's (or anyone else's) right to display anything they choose. I am sorry about your Valentine...as I am sorry that anyone would trespass and destroy anyone's property. It's disrespectful to say the least. But... it was Betsy herself who, in the open letter to the vandal, politicized the grievance. If this was simply about private property rights Obama's name would have, in all likelihood, not come up.

Betsy, we have had the same problem here for years down in Georgia, which is very red. We have found the only help has been to: place the sign close to the house, take the sign in at night (especially on Friday and Saturday nights), and report promptly to the police the theft/vandalism of each sign. We have received threatening letters, threatening phone calls - you name it, and we had to have the police arrest one person who wouldn't stop coming to our house to leave threatening letters on our porch. Try to remember that the police are your friends, advocates, and protectors in this; each theft or vandalism is a crime, and you are the victim of a crime each time this happens. I send best wishes and much encouragement.

Thank you for your support Barbara - I did in fact report this to the police. My new Obama sign is proudly posted and as of today, unharmed.

And now it is gone again.

I noticed your sign is still gone...perhaps you could post it close to the peach tree. With the constant visitation from sign vandals the squirrels might be scared away. On a more serious note, a "red" friend down on Marion Ave. often loses her signs. It is unfortunate that someone considers vandalism justified because their viewpoints differ from the owner of the sign. There doesn't seem to be much hope for our govt when our society can't respect a simple sign.

I am posting a new sign today. I think I will spray it with the same stinky stuff I put to keep the squirrels out of the garden - maybe then the vandals will keep their hands off!

Lawn signs have been disappearing from my street, too - both Democrat and Republican. It's a sad state of affairs whether it's teenagers or adults.

Sign stolen again. This one lasted three days. Just ordered five more. Another $100 to the Obama campaign. Not sure this is really what the sign thieves were hoping to accomplish.

Life is Good and better with Obama!

Doug - when you order your Obama sign, order a few extra!

Here's another interesting note - each time my signs disappear, people stop and ask me why. People notice. It gives me a chance to explain what is going on. I get lots of head shakes and eye rolls. In other words, not only is it noticed when it is present, it is noticed when it is absent. That is another "good sign."

new sign going up today

You would not believe the hateful emails that I receive from people just because my business involves selling Obama Lawn Yard Signs.

September 3, 2012
FOUR SIGNS STOLEN FROM MY LAWN LAST NIGHT:
- OBAMA/BIDEN
- BRAD SCHNEIDER
- CHRIS KENNEDY
- JULIE MORRISON

OMG

Our Anti-Romney signs were in our yard @ 4:45 yesterday, I left & came back @ 6:00. Two signs torn. Two signs stolen! All deep on our property. Called Winnetka police (sheepishly, b/c it's kind of lame and embarrassing as far as crimes go). But they were all over it. Wrote a report and promised to drive by more often. This morning@ 6:00 an officer was across the street on the Village Green....sad to waste tax dollars on someone's basic right to free speech, but they were there.

I've lived in some very hickish and wayward towns all over the USA and never, not ever would someone mess with the freedom-of-yard-speech like this!

Directly, we've had nothing but atta-go and high-fives. People have come up to the door and asked if they could take a picture by it. Positive, positive, positive except for two things -- unnamed people supposed called the caucus chair to complain (why her? who knows...), the theft/trespassing, and one anonymous USPS letter telling us that we're corrupting NT youth and encouraging exhibitionism.

I think you should move back to Mayberry and have Barney Fife find your thief instead of wasting tax payer $

How misinformed you are RBI.... First off he is a she. I have had lawn decorations taken. Did it warrant a police investigation? Most certainly not! Since when has a Republican stolen your right to vote? If that's the case, I would be surprised to hear that you didn't call the police.

At this point I doubt whomever is taking the signs has a deeply felt political leanings. The person or persons (the repeated removals is not necessarily done by one person) believe it is ok to take something that belongs to someone else. That's unfortunate and immature.

The Romney and Friedman signs I used to see on (I think it's) Elmwood disappeared in the past 2 or 3 days. More nefarious conduct? Maybe the landscapers needed to mow?

The madness continues in Winnetka. Check out one reader's experience with her yard signs. This just posted in the Winnetka Patch. (her signs are a riot!)
http://winnetka.patch.com/blog_posts/letter-to-editor-re-yard-sign-vandalism-in-winnetka

It sure is easy to dish out zingers when you hide behind a pseudonym, isn't it "Life is Good?"

What difference does it make what my name is? And I'm not hiding....just like you are entitled to put up your signs, I'm entitled to use what ever name I choose.

Life Is Good...there are quite a few nasty rejoinders I'd like to sling back in response to that immature comment but all I will allow is the wish that you would grow up and cease insulting others.

This came in the mail today from my neighbors @ 535 Oak.

Jennifer - Now you can add another adj. to your nutty reputation, White Trash.
You can take a girl out of the mountains, but you can't take the mountains out of the girl. Nice lawn sign if you live in a trailer park.

It's been laminated and is posted on the fence (if stolen, no biggie, I made copies).

My response to 535 Oak:
1. I think "White Trash" is considered by some to be both racist and elitist.
2. I never want to take the mountains out of me (but I'm a woman, not a girl)
3. And I have lived in a trailer park. It was on the Stanford University campus. We had yard signs there too.

Peace?
Pro Middle Class?
I support Equality?
No Bush Tax Cuts?
End the War?
No Flip Flopping?

I can think of many other Anti Romney Signs.

Ms. Mcquet's Romney sign is nothing as high-minded as what RB (see Above) suggests. It is a large picture of Romney with this head and neck enclosed in one of those cones that dogs have to wear to keep from biting or scratching themselves. It's an invitation to dogs to do their liquid business on Romney's face. The caption under the picture says, PEE HERE. So very clever.

Guido, the thirst for blood ( & power over others) has been a feature of man since he crawled out of the primordial ooze. There is no...as in zero getting around it. Do you wear only cotton and hemp...including your shoes? Are you a vegetarian? (There are some who would argue that to kill plants for clothing or food is also a act of violence). Do you buy products made in 3rd world countries? Do you drive a car?
Do you use energy to warm and light your abode? Did you ever vote? Whether you like it or not...you are and have been participant in all the perceived wrongs of this life...whether you vote or not. Try not to sound so high and mighty...given life's realities...it's really a joke.

Ask yourselves this: Iif the sign about which we are all talking had Mr. Obama's face on it instead of Mr. Romney's, would it be dismissed as inappropriate or "provocative beyond the norm," but funny? Probably not. It is more likely that many of you would be shrieking about it being a visual lynching. So why is it funny and acceptable when it's about a white guy?

Our neighbor has had his Democratic signs stolen over the years. He applies white grease to them.

FYI - the HP police department would like folks to report stolen campaign signs, as they are trying to keep a record of the #s & locations (as apparently there have been MANY) and of course identify those who are responsible. For anyone interested, just call the HP Police non-emergency # (847) 432-7730.

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