Government & Politics

The Other Election Battleground: Stealing Yard Signs

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Carnage from the battle of the yard signs

November 2, 2024

By Jeff Wilson–

With polarization and acrimony abounding in this election cycle, it’s not
surprising that extreme elements on both sides would resort to guerilla warfare
when it comes to campaign signage. Even Democrat candidates aren’t 100% safe
in the blue-leaning rivertowns.
Kevin (who asked that his last name not be used) lives on a corner lot on a main road in Ardsley. On October 10 he reported to the Ardsley police that a Harris/Walz sign he’d placed in his yard about two days earlier had been
removed. The police came to Kevin’s home and filled out a report of stolen
property, claiming it was the first time they’d received such a complaint.
Undeterred, Kevin replaced his missing Harris sign with a new one but moved it
closer to the side street. Sign number two went the way of sign number one in
the same time frame: 48 hours. Kevin didn’t report this second theft,
instead he placed three signs on this property. The results were predictable: add 48 hours, subtract three signs.
Kevin wasn’t taking this one lying down, reporting the theft. The responding
officers, like those involved in the earlier report, said they hadn’t heard about any
other instances of sign theft in the village but conceded they were pretty
powerless to stop it. “There’s not much we can see,” they admitted.
Kevin is skeptical of the officers’ view that sign-stealing is a rarity. “I bet it is a lot more rampant than just my house,” he remarked. Yet despite repeated violations of his rights to property and free speech, Kevin is taking the high road. On his Facebook page, the 11-year Ardsley resident began by voicing his bitterness. “It’s very frustrating and easy to get angry. It’s tempting to want to go and do the same to a Trump sign. But that is in fact a crime, an act of hatred and
intolerance.”
He followed this by resolving to rise above vengeance. “Instead” he said, “we will aspire to be better than the hate-filled people who stole our sign! We will teach our kids right from wrong.”
Other stories in and around Ardsley reveal that political chicanery isn’t
confined to just one party. A retired teacher and MAGA supporter who lives near
Ardsley High School (and requested anonymity) described her experience of
finding her Trump sign several blocks away, torn in half. She taped it up and put it
back in her yard. “The people who did it apparently have different values than I
have,” the woman said. But like her Democrat counterpart, retaliating against the
opposition’s signage isn’t in her DNA. “I would never do that,” she stated.
“Peace,” her husband chimed in.
Ann (not her real name) is an Ardsley Republican who placed Trump signs in public spaces. In addition to having a sign swiped from her own yard in 2020, Ann
said that a Trump sign she planted on the stretch of Ashford Avenue across
from Pascone Park (Ardsley Middle School) was removed and replaced by signs
for Harris and multiple local Democrat candidates. A Trump sign on Saw Mill River
Road across from Macy Park met the same fate. And it was here that Ann fell
victim to another sinister tactic, this one involving Proposition One, a
controversial New York ballot initiative that some hail as an equal rights
guarantee while others warn will elevate the rights of illegal migrants and
destroy women’s sports. Ann put a “Vote No on Prop One” sign along the
roadside, only to find a larger, brighter “Vote Yes” sign planted just inches away
from it the following day, canceling the “Vote No” message by covering it.
Some hope this rancor will dissipate after November 5, but with the post-election legal challenges by both parties lining up at the courthouse door, conflict
appears unlikely to abate for some time.