Caught on Tape: Political Signs Removed on Eve of Election
On Monday morning this week, the day before Election Day, a woman was caught on hidden cameras taking political signs that had been posted by a stop sign in the Clearwater Beach neighborhood of Springs.
Tom Steele, who set up the cameras, explained that a resident of the area, Lynne Scanlon, was tired of having her signs stolen. He offered to set up survellience, and she put out more signs.
He said the signs were posted on a public right-of-way in front of Scanlon’s property
“All the cameras were concealed,” he said. “Everything was concealed. You never would have known it was there.”
Signs went missing Monday, and when they checked the recording they saw a woman walk off with two signs. They called the police, and an officer responded and watched the video.
One of the signs that was taken encouraged voters to elect Tom Knobel, a Republican, to be the East Hampton town supervisor. Another sign read, “Vote Dem Out,” as in the Democrats, and it had a message against a proposed town residential rental registry. Steele said a third sign was also removed, though the cameras did not capture it being taken. One sign that was left behind read “StopTheRentalRegistry.com” and another encouraged voting for Margaret Turner for town board.
Scanlon believes she knows who the person in the video is, and informed police. Whether or not the act of removing the signs will lead to charges is unclear at this time.