Source of much glee in the summer of 2022 was a video recording that led to the arrest of then-president of the Woodstock Library board of trustees Jeff Collins. The footage shows that dignified gentleman absconding with a lawn sign critical of that year’s library bond vote. He plucks it from the grass, shoves it into the trunk of his car, and drives off with it.
“I made a mistake,” Collins said when his actions came to light, confessing additionally to “a moment of bad judgment.”
Five lawn signs were found at his house.
Five signs is a modest haul compared to the catch of Fishkill councilman John Forman, arrested last October while running town supervisor. He had stashed 30 stolen signs at his place of residence.
Forman’s brazen stratagem to drive down his opponent’s turnout was undone by an electronic Bluetooth tracking signal emitted by an Airtag attached to one of the campaign signs he placed in his vehicle.
During last year’s council race in Kingston, the Kingston Wire’s Jesse Smith reported that outgoing alder Barbara Hill, with the participation of high-schooler Romero Duffy, was interrupted in the act of removing lawn signs by the owner of the signs and renter of the lawn.
Like a kind of forbidden yard fruit, lawn signs left unattended during an election cycle frequently prove too tempting to resist.
So childish
Kingston Democratic chair Bill Reynolds says he’s been involved in the local political scene for decades. There’s nothing new about election-season sign theft. “It is something the police do watch,” says Reynolds. “It’s just a connection about how do you catch them doing it.”
Curiosity is on the rise for just which disaffected individual or organized group may be behind a recent rash of stolen Harris-Walz campaign signs reported last week in Kingston. Given the ubiquity of wireless recording devices, Reynolds suspects it won’t be long before everyone finds out. “The whole idea of stealing signs is so childish,” said Reynolds.
Stealing lawn signs in November, like smashing pumpkins on Halloween, is a tradition of misdemeanor harder and harder to get away with.
“I’ve got folks in the party and officeholders telling me that Harris-Walz signs are disappearing and nothing else,” said Reynolds, “which is sort of a departure from previous years, where, you know, all the Democratic signs would be taken.”
“My Harris-Walz sign, curiously, has not been taken,” said Reynolds. “Maybe next time.”
A seasonal epidemic
Democratic committee member Laura Nordstrom agrees that only Harris-Walz campaign signs are being targeted. “Between Thursday and Friday in Wards Nine, Three, Four and Five, I know of at least eight people who have had their Harris-Walz signs stolen,” reported Nordstrom, “and when I got home Friday after work, yep, I’m down a sign. But I’m in Ward Seven, which is arguably the most conservative district of the city.”
Rob King, secretary of the executive committee of the Kingston Democrats, lives in the Wilbur neighborhood. He too can count himself among those who found their Harris-Walz signs missing. “If you do this Brook Street, Chapel Street loop, there’s, what, maybe twelve houses? And it’s not a heavily trafficked road by any means,” King said. “We had Sarahana, Pat Ryan, Harris Walz, a Prop 1 sign …. Who am I forgetting? Michelle Hinchey. And I guess it was the night before last, the Harris Walz sign disappeared.”
King says Ward Nine alder Michele Hirsch received video footage recording a Harris-Walz sign theft over on West Chestnut Street from a constituent’s Ring doorbell camera. She described footage which shows a pickup truck pulling up in front of a house and what appears to be a teenager jumping out of the passenger-side door. He King says Ward Nine alder Michele Hirsch received video footage from a constituent’s Ring doorbell camera. She described footage which shows a pickup truck pulling up in front of a house and probably a male teen jumping out of the passenger-side door. He grabs the sign from the lawn, throws it into the back of the pickup, and jumps back into the cab. The truck speeds off. Both because the teenager may be a minor as well as the constituent’s wish not to be identified and invite further harassment, Hirsch has not released the video to the public. She has provided the video to the KPD.
“This could be seen as an easy to dismiss, teen prank,” says Hirsch. “Given the level of hatred and vitriol taking place across the country with this election, I find the act to be deeply troubling. Civility obviously must start at home. But how do parents teach their children civility when the world is full of base hatred? We must teach by example and instruction that there are civil ways to have discourse with a person who disagrees with you. There are respectful ways to argue.”
Two misdemeanors
Reached for comment, chair of the Kingston Republican committee Brian Woltman said so far he hasn’t heard any complaints of stolen Trump-Vance signs. His advice, he said, would be the same regardless of if he had.
“People tend to get bogged down in these sign wars,” said Woltman. “Getting distracted by signs, you’re taking your eye off the ball. My advice to anybody is don’t get caught up or distracted by signs going missing. Focus on getting out the vote, get your message out, and in the back of your head just say, ‘Well, they’re taking the signs. Oh, good.’ I must be living a rent-free space in their mind.’”
The Kingston police say each instance of a stolen sign can be counted as two misdemeanors: petit larceny for the taking of the sign, and possession of stolen property if the perpetrator keeps the evidence around.
Unless it’s a larger operation rather than a crime of passion, legal remedies aren’t often pursued. The embarrassment of being caught by the police and remembered in newsprint and social media seems punishment enough.
Join the family! 
