The Liberal and NDP candidate signs on 25th Ave. that were vandalized (photos by Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Destruction of Property

Local candidates condemn campaign sign destruction

Apr 17, 2025 | 11:27 AM

Several federal election campaign signs in Vernon have been vandalized, much to the disappointment of the local candidates.

Signs for the Liberal and NDP candidates in the Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee riding along 25th Avenue near the Flower Spot were found damaged Wednesday, April 16.

The NDP and Liberal campaign signs vandalized on 25th Ave. (photos by Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

The Conservative candidate in the riding, Scott Anderson, issued a statement condemning the destruction of the signs.

“I unequivocally condemn this kind of behaviour against any political party for any reason during an election,” Anderson said in an email.

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“These signs represent countless hours of volunteer work and significant financial resources, and destroying them is deeply disrespectful to the democratic process.”

Anderson also claimed Conservative signs had also been destroyed over the previous few days as well.

A photo posted on siclal media showing a Conservative sign in a ditch (submitted photo)

The candidate said he wanted to “keep this campaign focused on the issues, not on division and destruction,” and offered to help the other candidates clean up the vandalized signs.

Janet Parkins, the Volunteer Sign Team Lead for Liberal candidate Anna Warwick Sears’s campaign, claimed these weren’t the only signs of theirs that had been destroyed recently.

“Tensions are pretty high this campaign, I think it partly has to do with what’s going on in the United States, but it’s getting nastier and this is part of the nastiness, it’s really unfortunate and, from my perspective, it’s quite un-Canadian,” Parkins told Vernon Matters.

“I would like to say that democracy is really important to us and people need to be informed about who their candidates are, who is running, and part of the way they are informed about that is though road signs. For a specific party’s road signs to be damaged is interfering with the democratic process. I think we’re better than that and it really shouldn’t be happening.”

Parkins said the most recent vandalism incidents were witnessed and reported to police, and she hoped that the destruction of property was being investigated.

Leah Main, the NDP candidate in the riding, also issued a statement.

“Vandalizing election signs is a very childish thing to do. If you dislike a candidate, don’t vote for them; if you don’t believe in voting, don’t vote – but leave the signs alone,” Main said in an email to Vernon Matters.

“Both RCMP and Elections Canada should be notified of the damage, but are unlikely to be able to do anything unless the vandals are caught in the act.”

The local Green candidate did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Warwick Sears did not provide a statement of her own.

Anderson’s campaign said destruction of political signs is illegal, and people found committing these acts could face charges of mischief or theft under $5,000.

The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP weren’t immediately available to respond to a request as to whether these incidents were under investigation.

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