By Scott Brinton
"We crossed the street and saw it immediately," said Jeffrey, who lives across from Merrick Avenue Middle School. "It had to be on purpose."
The sign was a small election billboard for Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg, a Democrat of Merrick. The Smiths are friends and political supporters of Denenberg's. They attend Congregation Ohav Sholom with him. "We've had David's signs up [in past elections], and we've never had incidents before," Jeffrey said.
Denenberg's campaign managers say they've had more than 30 signs destroyed or stolen in recent weeks. Now Friends of Dave Denenberg, the legislator's re-election team, is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone caught stealing or ripping down Denenberg campaign signs, said Bob Young, a Merrick civic activist and Denenberg's campaign coordinator.
"It's out of control," Young said. "We can't put [campaign signs] up without having them taken down. It's not right."
Young estimates that replacing stolen or damaged signs has cost the Denenberg campaign upward of $1,000 to date. But, he quickly noted, Nassau County police are aggressively pursuing the matter.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com. or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
