The lead-up to the 2024 general election was accompanied by several dozen reports of destroyed political signs across the Verde Valley.
“I think it’s because they just get so worked up by their emotions regarding a particular candidate or issue, and they just get angry and they take it out on signs,” Yavapai County School Superintendent-elect Steve King [R] said. “I think [it] just compels them to do something stupid and illegal. I don’t think it’s organized or a conspiracy. I just think it’s emotional more than anything else.”
Arizona Revised Statute §16-1019 makes it a class 2 misdemeanor “for any person to knowingly remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign of any candidate for public office or in support of or opposition to any ballot measure.”
King’s signs were not the only ones damaged, stolen or vandalized. Not all crimes were reported to law enforcement. Those that were included:
Sedona
▪ June 11: Criminal damage to a sign for Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Donna Michaels [D] at Cooks Hill; estimated value $400.
▪ Aug. 5: Theft of two signs along Sunshine Court; no estimated value or political affiliation given.
▪ Sept. 1: Criminal damage to five signs in support of Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake along Kachina Drive; no estimated value given.
▪ Sept. 22: Theft of a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz sign valued at $25 at Dry Creek Road and N. Slopes Drive.
▪ Sept. 25: Theft of two Harris-Walz signs valued at $100 along Sandstone Drive.
▪ Sept. 26: Criminal damage to a Harris-Walz sign valued at $30 along Barcelona Road.
▪ Sept. 29: Theft of two Harris-Walz signs valued at $50 along Barcelona Road.
▪ Oct. 6: Criminal damage to a sign opposing Sedona Proposition 483 valued at $20 at Calle Del Sol and SR 89A.
▪ Oct. 9: Theft of a sign opposing Sedona Proposition 483 valued at $20 at Calle Del Sol and SR 89A.
▪ Oct. 20: Attempted theft of a Donald Trump sign at Airport Road and SR 89A. n Oct. 26: SPD documented “suspicious” activity along Arrowhead Road related to a sign in support of Arizona Rep. Quang Nguyen [R-District 1]. “The sign was removed from the ground and then left there, no damage,” SPD records clerk Meaghan Turner stated.
▪ Oct. 30: A backwards swastika was spray-painted onto a sign in support of Trump located on the east side of SR 89A at Foothills South Drive.
Cottonwood
▪ Sept. 2: Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor candidate Nikki Check [D] reported two signs down at South Willard and East Mingus Avenue. The Cottonwood Police Department stated that the signs were “removed and thrown into nearby brush, not damaged, not stolen
▪ “I have had approximately 20 smaller signs replaced or repaired after being removed or beaten up,” Check said.
▪ Sept. 11: A Harris sign was damaged at South Main Street and SR 89A, with the “extent of damage and value unknown” according to CPD. The reporting party said that nine of his 11 Harris signs had gone missing and that a homophobic slur was yelled at him while installing a sign on the weekend of Sept. 20.
“The signposts were still in the ground,” the reporting party said. “Just the actual signs were gone. So it wasn’t like they fell over.”
▪ Sept. 19: A political sign at S. Willard Street and East Tierra Verde Drive was “removed and thrown over a fence, not identified as damaged” according to CPD. The reporting party said that it was a Harris sign, and that because of another Harris sign incident, she had filed two reports with CPD; she also said that her signs for Arizona District 2 candidate Jonathan Nez [D] and Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Ylenia Aguilar [D] had been tampered with.
▪ Oct. 1: A political sign was stolen at E. Aspen Street and Brian Mickelsen Parkway. The reporting party said that additional Trump signs they put up were removed, including six near E. Rodeo Drive and Highway 260, three near E. Fir Street and 260, three at the intersection of SR 89A and 260 and three at S. 12th Street and SR 89A..
▪ Oct. 9: A Harris-Walz sign was stolen at 690 W. SR 89A and “various other locations,” according to CPD. The reporting party said that another of their Harris signs was stolen near 1519 SR 89A.
▪ Oct. 16: A sign was reported damaged and stolen at Willard Street and Mingus Ave.
Clarkdale
▪ Sept. 23: The theft of a Democratic Party sign valued at $10 occurred in Upper Clarkdale on private property.
▪ Oct. 14: The theft of a Republican Party sign valued at $10 occurred on Lanny Lane on private property.
▪ Oct. 18: Two reporting parties alleged that seven houses in Upper Clarkdale had their signs for Democratic candidates stolen.
▪ Oct. 19: Along the Old Jerome Highway, two signs for Democratic candidates were reported missing and several others were knocked down, with an estimated value of $40.
“Several residents have reported thefts of political signs this week,” town of Clarkdale staff wrote in an Oct. 25 message. “In all cases, there are no leads. Officers are conducting extra patrols.”
Jerome
▪ Aug. 11: Criminal damage to a sign in the area of Dundee Avenue and Hampshire Avenue. A male suspect was caught on a resident’s camera but Jerome police were unable to identify him.
▪ Aug. 19: Criminal theft of a sign reported in the area of SR 89A and Dundee Avenue. The victim reported pieces of the sign were left at the scene and thought it had occurred the previous day.
▪ Aug. 20: A sign was stolen in the area of Dundee Avenue and Hampshire Avenue “The victim did capture a light-colored sedan on a video, but no identifying information,” Lt. Russell San Felice said. “[We] couldn’t get a plate number or view the suspect.”
▪ Aug. 22: Damage to signs was reported in the area of 100 Dundee Lane, with a “blue car caught on camera by a private citizen, but there’s no identifying information, so we couldn’t close that case,” San Felice said.
▪ Aug. 31: Criminal damage to signs in the area of 100 Dundee Lane. “We were able to close that case by a cite-and-release,” San Felice said.
▪ Oct. 15: A sign at 713 Main St. was temporarily removed. “Suspects were identified and they removed the signs because they claimed that they were blocking their view from their driveway as they were exiting and it was a danger to them, and they didn’t realize that if they wanted to do that, they needed to call the authorities,” San Felice said. “The victim recovered his signs and was not interested in prosecution … and said that he’d move them further up the road.”
▪ Oct. 15: Seven signs went missing from 900 Hampshire Avenue at Dundee Lane; five were recovered, and a suspect denied involvement in the disappearance of the two signs that were not recovered. JPD said that they had no reason to think the suspect was involved in the disappearance of the other two signs.
“We did have a suspect who admitted to removing several of the signs, but didn’t steal them,”San Felice said. “[They] put them in another location, and they were recovered, and we didn’t press prosecution on that one. The victim in that case was fine [because] he recovered his signs and they were given back to him.”
▪ Oct. 16: Four signs were reported stolen at SR 89A and North Drive between 9 p.m. the previous day and 3 p.m.; no suspect was identified.
▪ Oct. 22: Three signs were reported stolen at SR 89A and Douglas Road; no suspects.
Yavapai County and Camp Verde
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office were unable to provide a list of campaign sign thefts or damages from this election season, as their computer systems do not include a unique code for political sign theft, only for general theft, according to YCSO public affairs officer Kristin Greene.
“We would have to literally go back and read every criminal damage report to see if it had political signs in it or not,” Administrative Commander Darby Martin said, and added that CVMO is now considering adding codes for political sign theft to its software. “That way we can go back and we can research them. But prior to this, no one really asked for that, so we have no way of going back and looking.”
Democratic Party organizer Kat Ginzel said that she reported a “mutilated” Harris sign at the intersection of Bice Road and E. Beaver Creek Road to YCSO on Oct. 12.
“[YCSO] confiscated it as evidence, and they came out here and took pictures … there’s been a lot,” Ginzel said, and subsequently added that another 10 Harris signs went missing overnight around Rimrock. Ginzel also said she noted several signs that were not in compliance with state law on public land.
Camp Verde resident Joe D. said that he made two reports of the theft of four Harris signs from 403 and 650 Finnie Flat Road, Highway 260 and Main Street and 555 West Middle Verde Road “about two weeks ago.”
Camp Verde resident Dave T. said that, his Harris signs were removed in Camp Verde beginning on Oct. 8; he would put out between 18 and 20 signs weekly and most would disappear in a few days. He stated that he reported it to CVMO on Oct. 21 and Oct. 26, and that CVMO “only wanted one location” for the theft, so he listed the thefts at the intersection of Main Street and S. Montezuma Castle Highway.
