LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — With less than fifty days until Election Day 2024, you're probably been seeing campaign signs displayed in people's yards.
Sometimes displaying those banners of support for one party or the other comes with a call for civility from law enforcement.
A prime example of that this week comes from one Little Rock woman who explained how she filed a police report after having received some unpleasant mail for having a political sign in her front yard.
Ginger Hart explained how she places a sign in her yard for every election season, but said this year was different. When she opened her mailbox, she noticed a handwritten letter that included explicit words and references to her preferred presidential nominee.
She also explained how the situation didn't stop there, instead it continued to escalate. She posted about the letter on social media and began to go viral.
At some point, someone even stole the sign from her yard.
"I was looking back through the ring camera, and can see when the sign was there, then like a flash of a white shirt, and then the sign is gone," Hart described.
The Little Rock Police Department received Hart's report and explained how it's unfortunately not uncommon to see things like that happen during this time of year.
Officer Jonathan Tolentino explained that as we get to the deep end of the political season, people should remember to stay vigilant and safe because people can get emotional over their political beliefs.
He advised that if a similar situation were to happen, you should not engage with the person but instead call the police, make a report, and then wait for the officer to investigate the crimes.
Officer Tolentino said those crime charges can vary from harassment, criminal trespassing, and even criminal mischief.
Law enforcement officials also said that regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, your safety is the top priority.
Hart said she will not stop exercising her First Amendment rights and encouraged others to not allow people to "infringe what your beliefs are onto someone.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas released the following statement regarding the theft of campaign signs:
"Unfortunately, stealing, trampling and otherwise defacing yard signs is a pretty common practice in Arkansas. It happens almost daily in front of our office. It’s wrong, but it happens every cycle."
We have also reached out to the Republican Party of Arkansas for a statement but have not heard back.