Campaign signs for 3 San Jose candidates stolen and vandalized
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Accusations of dirty politics have surfaced in San Jose after candidates in three separate races for city council and mayor say hundreds of their yard signs were stolen over the last few weeks.
Video provided to KPIX shows an unidentified man yanking a yard sign out of the ground and then ripping it apart.
The shaky video was shot outside the campaign headquarters of mayoral candidate Matt Mahan.
"It certainly scared our staff and unfortunately, it's not an isolated incident. This seems like it's gone to the next level. We've lost hundreds of signs in just the last few months," Mahan said.
"We had to tie back signs onto a pole in order for them to not steal them anymore," said District 7 City Council candidate Van Le.
"They swept everything at nighttime. I have witnesses, volunteers. They had to put signs back not just one time, but two times and three times," Le said.
The costs are also adding up for District 5 City Council Candidate Rolando Bonilla.
"Within the last two weeks, we've lost over two hundred signs, which cost between 5 and 8 dollars," Bonilla said.
Bonilla believes it's happening too frequently to be random.
"This is an organized attack, intended to silence voices. Intended to intimidate and take away from the joyful process of having a conversation about how to improve your community and make it better."
So far, Van Le is the only candidate to report the thefts to police.
Police say they have no suspects at this time.