Shortly after volunteers set up several of B.C. Conservative John WilsonB次元官网网址檚 election signs in Vic West, the plastic boards were discovered atop a bramble bush and in a nearby garbage can. 

B次元官网网址淭o have a setback like this so early in the campaign is very disheartening,B次元官网网址� said the MLA hopeful, who announced his Esquimalt-Colwood candidacy on Sept. 21. B次元官网网址淸I] hope we wonB次元官网网址檛 see any more of it.B次元官网网址� 

A member of candidate's staff claimed that approximately 100 more signs have been removed or vandalized elsewhere, and added that it could cost over $2,500 to replace them.

Other candidates have faced similar problems.

B次元官网网址淒uring an election, it isnB次元官网网址檛 uncommon for us to receive complaints about damaged or vandalized election signs,B次元官网网址� said Elections BC in statement to Black Press, adding that it doesnB次元官网网址檛 collect information about how many of these complaints it receives.

In Victoria, Black Press recently received a report that a bus stop ad promoting B.C. Green Party candidate and leader Sonia Furstenau had been vandalized. 

"Vandalizing or removing election signs significantly harms a candidate's campaign by reducing visibility and misleading voters about the candidate's support,B次元官网网址� said Furstenau in a statement to Black Press. B次元官网网址淚t disrupts campaign strategies and skews the democratic process by hindering the free exchange of ideas that voters need to make informed decisions.B次元官网网址�  

Removed and vandalized campaign signs can also "discourageB次元官网网址� people from running, added Furstenau.

B次元官网网址淚t creates a more hostile political landscape,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e already have a hard time encouraging women and others who are under-represented in politics to run.B次元官网网址� 

Over the Malahat, B.C. NDP candidate Debra Toporowski, who is running in the Cowichan Valley riding, discovered on Sept. 23 that someone had cut her face out of one of her signs. Not long after, someone torched another one, melting it off its metal frame.

"My signs arenB次元官网网址檛 the only targets," said Toporowski. "As soon as they went up, itB次元官网网址檚 been happening up and down the Island I hear.B次元官网网址� 

The candidate said that this kind of behaviour stems from peoples' frustrations, which her husband and grandson recently experienced firsthand.

"They were putting up signs and someone drove by and fingered and swore at him," she said. "It's very sad.B次元官网网址�

Instead of removing election signs, Wilson thinks people should save their frustrations for the ballot box. 

B次元官网网址淚n a democratic process, everybody has the opportunity to put forward their ideas and run for MLA of a riding in British Columbia,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淟et the signs be, and everybody should come out and vote on Oct. 19 and let the dust settle where it does.B次元官网网址�