Halloween trick or political shenanigans? Local yard signs disappearing

Whether it’s the work of Halloween tricksters or a more calculated political maneuver, no one knows. But a handful of local candidates are reporting that their campaign signs have been taken out of supporters’ yards over the past week.

Rob McKnight, a longtime Republican political consultant who switched parties to run against Rob Bruchman as a Democrat in the District 20 House race, had a number of supporters contact him earlier this week complaining that their McKnight signs had been yanked from their yards. Bruchman’s campaign had been accused during the primaries of planting its own yard signs in the lawns of people who hadn’t asked for them.

And state Senator Terrie Huntington reported that she and a number of other Republicans have had their signs stolen in the past few days.

“It’s probably a Halloween prank,” she said via email. “But it’s an expensive one, and time consuming for many candidates.”