PORT ANGELES — Nine red, white and blue political signs urging passers-by to vote for Clallam County prosecuting attorney candidate Larry Freedman were reported stolen between Friday night and Saturday morning, authorities said.
The signs were posted from west of Port Angeles to downtown Sequim.
Two were put on a parcel in Sequim owned by a private business that was misidentified as property on which Freedman thought he had permission to post his signs, the candidate said.
They also were removed, and Freedman considers them stolen.
“The two signs that were mistakenly put up, they’ve been stolen,” the Sequim Democrat said, adding he had permission to put up all the other signs.
“They were stolen, too.”
One Freedman sign in Sequim was replaced by a sign for incumbent Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, Freedman said.
Kelly, who is running as a Republican, denounced the thefts.
“I and my campaign manager have made it crystal clear to anyone helping us that you don’t touch anyone else’s signs,” Kelly said.
“I don’t condone it, and it’s wrong.”
The signs were valued at a total of $900 and equaled nearly half of the 20 that Freedman has posted in the county, he said.
Two signs were located west of Port Angeles on private property on U.S. Highway 101 east of Airport Road, two were west of Laird’s Corner on Highway 101, two were between Port Angeles and Sequim west of Dryke Road and three were in Sequim.
“The reason they are important is for name recognition,” Freedman said. “A lot of people are not privy to what goes on in the courthouse.
A sheriff’s deputy and a Sequim police officer are looking into the thefts, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jim Borte and Sequim Police Department Lt. Sheri Crain said.
“We really need a witnesses,” Crain said, adding the incidents are being investigated as third-degree theft.
Kelly, Freedman and Port Angeles lawyer and administrative law judge Lauren Erickson, a Democrat, are running in the Aug. 17 primary.
Ballots in the all-mail-ballot primary will be mailed Wednesday to more than 45,000 voters countywide.
The top two vote-getters advance to the Nov. 2 general election regardless of party affiliation.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.