Sign Vandalism

I called an old friend in Santa Rosa (in Sonoma County, CA, north of San Francisco) to tell her about the Ruth Institute Home Party Kits. The first words out of her mouth were, "we're doing great up here, but people keep stealing our Yes on Prop 8 signs."
The Orange County Register reports it as well.

After watching the political signs in his Fountain Valley neighborhood slashed and their replacements disappear, Jeff Carr knew what he had to do.

A contractor by profession, Carr built a two-by-four frame box around the flimsy plastic sign that reads "Yes on Prop 8." The box, with plexiglass and low-voltage lighting, has legs sunk two feet into the ground.

"You can kick this thing or try to cut it. It's indestructible unless you drive over it," Carr said. "It's my First Amendment right to have a sign in my front yard, for God's sake."

In downtown Huntington Beach, Kui Gomez held a late-night stakeout and unsuccessfully ran after someone who'd stolen his "Yes on 8" sign before jumping into a van.

He said nine to 11 signs on his neighbors' front yards have also been ripped up or slashed.

"We have signs galore," Gomez said. "I'll put out the same I had plus two."

The Irvine Police Department has reported the most Prop 8 sign vandalism by far. Since Oct. 8, eight Yes on Prop. 8 signs have been stolen or spray painted. Two of those incidents ended in citizen's arrests for petty theft, Lt. Rick Handfield said.

Shu-Chih Yuen, an Irvine resident, said she's resorted to displaying her "Yes on 8" sign on the window after one was stolen and two tagged with "no" over the "yes."

"Irvine has been rated as the safest city and I never thought this would be happening in the city," Yuen said. "Not just is my property being violated but my right to speak is being violated. It's kind of scary, you feel like people are attacking us almost."

Update from Silicon Valley: Out of the Mouths of Babes

Mr friend from San Jose adds this:

My son has the right attitude. About the scratches, he says, "Mom, that is just a small price to pay for trying to get the right message out". How wise he is.

Prop 8 Supporters Harrassed in Silicon Valley

I just got this note from a friend in Silicon Valley:

My husband put up 2 "Yes on 8" signs on our property on Sunday Oct. 5th. He had gotten them from someone on the Life Chain in San Jose. Last Saturday, Oct. 11th both signs were still in place. Sunday morning, Oct 12th, the sign by the street was gone, but the one by our palm trees was still there.

On Tuesday, Oct. 14th I was driving down El Camino Real to go shopping. When I came out of the store, I had 2 small hand-made scratches, about 3 inches long in my passenger side door that were not there the night before. I have Yes on 8 bumper stickers on several sides of my van.

Again on Tuesday, Oct. 14th, I was driving the same stretch of El Camino, delighted to find several Yes on 8 signs had been put up in the median and along the road. By the time I came home 3 1/2 hours later, they were all gone. Other signs remained.

On Wednesday, Oct. 15th Joe obtained 2 more Yes on 8 signs. We replaced the one stolen, but put it closer to our house with a light on it. I planned to put the other one inside our house in the window. Sometime Thursday morning, Oct. 16th BOTH signs on our yard were stolen. To steal these signs someone HAD to walk up on our property and take them. Thank God I had not put up the other sign yet. I then put up our other sign (the only one we had left of 4 of them), in the window in our dining room. I asked 2 of our priests today to pray that no one throws rocks at our window!

And the opponent calls us intolerant!