Yahoo News Vandals target election campaign boards in Gloucestershire
Electoral boards and banners have been vandalised across Gloucestershire during the run-up to the general election. Police were called after a campaign poster for Alex Chalk was ripped down at a property in London Road opposite Haywards Road in Cheltenham in the early hours of this morning (July 3).
This was caught on camera after a spate of similar incidents in recent nights. Mr Chalk said loads of posters and banners have been destroyed during the election campaign and that such vandalism undermines democracy.
“Police were called last night and they did attend but couldn’t find him,” he said. “There has been a spate of incidents. Someone was waiting for him this time.
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“There has been so much of it going on. It’s happened three nights on the bounce where things have been taken down.
“Criminal damage like this undermines democracy and fair elections in Cheltenham.” Earlier this month, a separate incident of damage to a banner supporting Independent candidate Daud McDonald in St Paul’s was reported to the police.
And in the Cotswolds several Liberal Democrat boards have also been vandalised. One board was torn down in Cirencester, another punched in Ewen and two boards stolen from a property in Fairford.
Liberal Democrat Joe Harris, who is campaigning for Roz Savage in the South Cotswolds consituency, said: “Everyone should be able to express their support for any candidate without fear of having their property encroached on and their sign vandalised or stolen.
“You don’t have to agree with someone’s political views and the best way to demonstrate this is at the ballot box. It’s an attack on democracy and I hope all candidates in the South Cotswolds will condemn this.”
A Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We have received a report that a politician's election campaign poster was damaged in Cheltenham. “It was reported that a poster, located on Haywards Road, was ripped off a wall at around 1.20am today (July 3).
Officers from the Cheltenham Neighbourhood Policing Team are conducting enquiries such as reviewing CCTV footage. Anyone with information is asked to complete this online form quoting incident 25 of July 3.
