During this particularly volatile election cycle, Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies are receiving a number of reports of political signs being stolen or damaged from areas along the streets and roadways in town.

The Sheriff’s Office has reached out to clarify a report of stolen Trump/Pence signs from a couple of weeks ago. Some were in fact removed by Town Code Enforcement due to their placement in the median and traffic safety concerns.

MCSO Capt. Larry Kratzer said they followed up on a report that the signs were removed by Code Enforcement and found that was the case.

“Code Enforcement removed three Trump signs that were in the median and contacted the sign owners so they could pick them up from them,” Kratzer said.

MCSO reporting of the incident has been updated.

Sheriff’s deputies did investigate an incident this week in which an individual reported damage to Biden/Harris signs he had placed.

While Kratzer said MCSO had received no formal complaints in this regard, there have been reports of individuals being harassed on both sides because of political signs they were placing or were on their property.

MCSO is reminding people that political signs are protected speech and it is a crime to remove or damage them. Signs are permitted on private property, with owner’s consent, and within public rights-of-way where they are not a traffic hazard. Anyone who believes a sign constitutes a hazard should not remove it themselves but report the situation to MCSO or Town of Fountain Hills Code Enforcement.