Vandals caused damage to signs in Dickinson County on Monday night. The incidents took place the same day it was reported a skull with threatening messages was left in the yard of a Republican Central Committee member’s yard in Black Hawk County.
Barbara Clayton, the Dickinson County GOP co-chair, said it happened sometime Monday night. She said it appears all the signs have green paint on them, so they’re thinking it was the same person or group that caused the damage.
“But they were kind of spread out around the county,” Clayton said.
One sign was at Vick’s Corner at the corner of Highway 71 & 86. The sign was purchased by Mr. Vick himself. Clayton said she thinks he has had that sign up for a couple of months.
Another sign was on the east side of East Lake Okoboji. Both sides of the sign were marked up. The vandals also stole two of his Trump flags. At one time, the owner had three Trump flags on his property with three antique tractors. One was stolen about a week ago, and the other two were taken Monday night.
The third incident happened in Milford on Highway 71 across the street from Sunshine Foods grocery store. Clayton noted that, like Vick’s, it is a very busy corner. There were two signs on each side of a trailer, both were defaced.
Two residents also received threatening notes in their mailboxes in the Miller’s Bay Area.
“This has all happened here in the same week,” Clayton said. “Now, we’ve had yard signs being stolen since we handed those out I think in July. But we’ve had flags either destroyed or stolen. But this is the thing that can most easily be all tied together.”
The sheriff is investigating. Clayton it sounds as though he is taking it seriously and she is unsure if he has video or not.
“Four years ago, when we had our Trump campaign headquarters, we had the one sign on our headquarters vandalized,” Clayton said. “But if I remember correctly, that was it. But with our boat parades and selling over 400 flags in the county, we are a little bit more out there and in your face.
“People are flying those flags, so I don’t know if this is the way to try to silence people or to make them be afraid of flying their flag or putting out their Trump sign, but from what I’m hearing, it has just emboldened them. They’re going to go ahead. I’ve been getting calls all day for more Trump signs because people want to put them in their yards.”
