Obama supporters around the nation say they are seeing random instances of theft and vandalism -- and in some cases are being threatened with physical harm -- as the 2012 election season nears its close.
Two communities in New Jersey are reporting the theft of Obama lawn signs. In the Morris County community of Madison, Obama supporter Tracy Young said some residents of the 16,000-person town woke up last week to find their Obama signs stolen from their front lawns.
Young told The Huffington Post that after she discovered her lawn sign missing, she began talking to other Obama supporters and found out that the theft was not just centered on her lawn. Young noted that she did not initially call the police about the issue because she did not know the extent of the Obama sign theft.
"We didn't report it because we didn't think it would do any good," Young said, adding that she now plans to call the police. "Not sure about other people. We just went and got more signs."
Acting Madison Police Chief Darren Dachisen did not return a call for comment.
Madison is not the only New Jersey community reporting the theft of Obama lawn signs. Basking Ridge Patch reported earlier this month that a resident found their Obama lawn sign ripped to shreds and placed in their mailbox.
In Missouri, Creve Couer Patch reported that Obama supporter Yana Hotter came out of a store to find an "I 'heart' Comrade Obama" bumper sticker placed on her Honda Civic near an Obama magnet she put on the car.
"Someone came to my private property and violated it," Hotter told Creve Couer Patch. "It's really disturbing and it's really scary, because if they feel that they can do that to a car, an inanimate object, what is next?"
In Brecksville, Ohio, Patch reported that police said an Obama lawn sign that had been cemented and welded into a resident's front yard was cut out of its frame on Oct. 14. The resident had cemented the sign as protection following previous sign thefts. And in Wisconsin, Muskego Patch reported that earlier this month, a local resident said that their Obama lawn sign was set on fire.
Also earlier this month, Kyle Counts, a 27-year-old law student in Tulsa, Okla., told The Huffington Post that his neighbor allegedly threatened to kill him over the Obama lawn sign he placed in his front yard.
But Obama supporters are not the only ones subject to sign theft and, in at least one case, a reported attack.
In Montclair, N.J., Baristanet reported that a Romney supporter took action after finding pro-Romney lawn signs stolen. The supporter posted a sign saying that future theft would only help Romney, as they'd either buy a new sign or donate $50 to the Romney campaign. The supporter also warned potential thieves of the family's German shepherd, who "LOVES the taste of cowardly libs in the morning," according to a sign in the supporter's yard.
And this week, Sean Kedzie, the 22-year-old son of a Republican state senator in Wisconsin, said that he was attacked while trying to defend his Romney lawn sign from thieves.
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