A startling surprise Sunday morning for a democratic field organizer.
Around 9:15 a.m., the Koster for Missouri organizer discovered two dozen candidate posters outside of the Buchanan County Democratic Headquarters were stolen.
“$700 dollars’ worth of signs, they were all gone,” said Buchanan County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Patrick Squires.
The signs were cut from posts outside of the building and replaced with multiple posters supporting Republican candidates and messaging, including two Trump/Pence signs, a Hillary for Prison 2016 poster, and multiple signs for Buchanan Co. Sheriff candidate Bill Puett.
“I know [Puett] and I know this is a good man,” said Squires. “I know that he didn’t plan this and he wouldn’t support it.”
Puett condemned the theft and offered assistance to Squires over a phone call early Sunday afternoon.
“We don’t tolerate stealing. We don’t tolerate property damage. That’s just unacceptable,” said Puett, who acknowledged he had nothing to do with the crime. “I believe the craziness from the national election now is coming to the local level.”
Police were notified and are investigating the felony theft, saying it could carry federal repercussions because the property stolen related to an election.
“Whoever took these down, if they think they’re patriotic well then they don’t know the definition of that word,” said Squires. “This is no prank. There’s no way this was not pre-meditated.”
Squires says he plans on replacing the signs with a large banner that will hang near the roofline of the building.
“We’ll put it up there so they’ll have to get a ladder to steal it,” said Squires.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
