TYLER — As the race for the Texas U.S. Senate seat between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke heats up, several people in Tyler have found their Beto O'Rourke campaign signs are being stolen out of their yards.
Staci Smith has lived in Tyler her whole life and said she's never had a political sign stolen until recently. The first time she just bought more signs, the second she emailed the police, and the third time she called them.
"I feel like I have a right to put them in my yard, private yard and I feel like they should not be able to just come up onto my yard and steal my property," Smith said.
According to Texas law, it is illegal to steal, deface or destroy any campaign yard sign on private property. The crime is punishable by a fine up to $2,500, up to a year in jail, or a combination of both.
"I had nine the third time so they took all nine of my signs plus a large 4x4 for Beto," Smith said.
However, Smith said she's not alone, but that others have had their signs stolen as well.
"Well I'm hearing it from quite a few people, I mean all of my friends have signs in their yards and they're saying that they're replacing them on a weekly basis," Smith said.
Michael Tolbert has posted several campaign signs around Tyler and said that about half a dozen have been taken.
"It's disturbing you know," Tolbert said. "We encourage our supporters to follow the laws regarding right of ways and to respect other peoples freedom of speech."
Although Smith is unhappy people are stealing campaign signs, she doesn't mind buying more.
"It's helping the campaign cause for every sign that's stolen I buy three more," Smith said. "So you're giving money to the campaign when you do that."