Damaging signs a police matter: city

Damaged campaign signs aren't just a cost to the candidates who put them up, but they can also be indicative of a criminal act.

According to RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Craig Douglass, tearing down or otherwise impairing campaign signs are classified as mischief.

"So it gets treated the exact same way any damage to property would get treated and we get thousands of them a year - it happens every election period," Douglass said.

Since it's in the same category as kicking down a fence or spray painting a wall, Douglass said he couldn't single out the exact number of damaged election sign files that have been opened.

The placement of campaign signs is governed by a city bylaw and all candidates received the pertinent information in their nomination packages. However, any damage is a police matter, said city planning director Ian Wells.

"It is a crime, it can certainly be reported. It's very difficult to gather evidence from it," said Douglass. "I suspect it probably happens more than it's reported."

Any concerns about the placement of signs can be addressed to the city, Wells said.

"If [drivers] can't see, they can contact the planning and development department and we'll have our building inspection division look at them," Wells said. "If there's something identified as a safety issue we'll have them removed - we'll phone the candidate and ask them to remove them or remove them ourselves."