Liberal campaign signs vandalized

Liberal candidate Dorothy Noronah campaign signs damaged are damage. Photo by Maria Papaioannoy Northumberland 89.7 FM

By Dan Jones, Northumberland 89.7 FM News, Local Journalism Initiative.

The Ontario provincial election campaign in Northumberland-Peterborough South has taken a negative turn for one campaign.

Liberal candidate Dorothy Noronah has seen her campaign signs either vandalized or gone missing. Some signs on King Street in Cobourg have been severely damaged, in some cases irreparable.

She claims other signs have gone missing throughout the constituency.

“The cost is one thing, but obviously its kind of a kick in the gut, that you’ve worked so hard and someone in the span of seconds has not just wrecked it but made it irreparable. If you slash it down the centre, you can tape it. When they cut out a panel and leave that panel sitting there, you can’t do anything,” she stated.

Noronah said she cannot understand why people would vandalize her campaign signs. She stated it takes her team of volunteers 30 minutes to erect large campaign signs in rural parts of the riding, only to see them missing or damaged days later.

Noroonah’s campaign estimates that approximately 40 percent of her campaign signs are being targeted. While she said these incidents are disheartening for her and her team, it motivates them on the campaign trail.

“It fires us up, in the sense that we’re obviously making an impact and that’s what we really set out to do,” she said.

Noronah said police have been contacted regarding the damaged and missing signs. Cobourg Police explained they have not received a report of vandalism, but caution is an offense to damage campaign signs and that those caught doing so will be prosecuted. Northumberland OPP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.