RIVERSIDE

When Eileen Beran, Janice Weiner, and their supporters met up at a Riverside cornfield to reposition a handful of political signs on Monday afternoon, they instead confronted an unwelcome truth: the signs had been stolen.

Again.

“Whoever [is doing this] had to make an effort, because these are big signs,” Weiner pointed out. “Those are four by eight [foot] signs.”

For the last two weeks the Highway 218-facing property has become a political battleground. Beran – a campaign manager for Anna Banowksy – and Weiner – a state senator – had mounted five signs on a farmer’s fence. On Oct. 11, the signs were pulled down and left on the ground. On Oct. 14 it happened again. On Oct. 26 the signs were stolen. Replaced the following day, the signs were thefted again within 24 hours.

“It feels like somebody is trying to take away our voice,” Weiner said.

Two of the signs were “efforts to sort of define what we’re in favor of. They’re not candidate signs,” Weiner said. “One of them said, ‘Iowans want public dollars for public schools.’ The other one said, ‘Iowans demand reproductive freedom.’ They were paid for by the Iowa Democratic Senate Majority Fund. So they’re not candidate signs, they are messaging signs.”

What would motivate someone to bring snippers and a truck out to a bit of nowhere between Riverside and Hills, pull off Highway 218, hike up the grassy embankment, and remove the giant signs?

“Maybe they make someone uncomfortable, but that’s life,” Weiner said. “There are plenty of signs that I see that make me uncomfortable, but it would never in a million years occur to me to take them down.”

For Beran, the sign tampering and theft is an affront to the hard work she and other volunteers have put into candidates’ campaigns. Political signs have to be paid for, and everyone’s time is valuable.

“I’m very angry,” she said. “This is money that our candidate has raised through fundraisers, monies given by small-dollar donors who want to invest in her campaign. Our largest individual donation was probably $500, and we just worked so hard for this, and then people just take it away.”

Three signs were for Democratic candidates Banowsky, Ed Chabal, and Christina Bohannon. An additional Harris-Walz hand painted sign had also been attached to the fence. Beran estimates they had invested about $881 in the signs, as well as many hours.

The signs formed a bunting in front of a lifted truck bed on which a “Dump Trump” sign had been mounted. The truck thus far has not been disturbed.

“No one should ever steal, damage or deface anyone’s political yard signs or barn signs,” Weiner wrote in a Facebook post after the signs had been twice detached and left on the ground. “Iowans need to show tolerance, respect private property rights, and leave signs alone. They need to just respect their neighbors’ choices, regardless of if they disagree with them. Have a conversation – or don’t – but leave the signs be. That’s an Iowa value.”

She reiterated that point on Monday afternoon.

“Iowans really need to be better than this,” she said.

Expression of political beliefs, including posting signs in yards or other private property, is protected under the First Amendment. Vandalism and theft can result in fines up to $625 and up to 30 days in prison under Iowa law. If you see something, say something; the Washington County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 319-653-2107; the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 319-356-6020.