By Mary O’KEEFE

It may seem that candidates running for local offices in this March 5 primary agree on absolutely nothing; however, they do in fact appear to agree on one thing: theft of lawn signs.

Most of the candidates have complained about their lawn signs being taken by their opponents or their opponents’ supporters. This election, however, does seem to have a rash of signs placed in areas without the landowner’s permission; some signs are being removed from some properties; and some people have even questioned the right of others to place a sign on certain property.

These complaints are not just one-sided but seem to affect most candidates who erected lawn signs throughout the area.

State law, Section 5405.02, states temporary political signs must meet specific criteria including: The sign encourages a particular vote in a scheduled election, is placed not sooner than 90 days prior to the scheduled election and is removed within 10 days after that election, the sign cannot be larger than 32 square feet and a Statement of Responsibility must be filed certifying a person will be responsible for removing the sign/signs.

“Temporary political signs shall not be placed within the right-of-way of any highway, or within 660 feet of the edge of, and visible from the right-of-way of a classified landscaped freeway. State law directs the Dept. of Transportation to remove unauthorized temporary political signs and bill the responsible party for their removal,” according to Caltrans.

Those who place signs on a property must obtain permission to do so. If a resident, or business, finds a sign on their property without first giving permission the resident/business owner can remove the sign; however, it is illegal to remove a sign from another’s property.

“Campaign sign theft is a crime and the Glendale Police Dept. is aware that this unfortunate activity happens during the political campaign season. The Glendale Police Dept. has received one report of campaign sign theft related to the March 5 election. A business reported the theft of six campaign signs on Jan. 29 in the 3200 block of Foothill Boulevard,” according to Kevork Kurdoghlian, GPD’s communications manager.