This browser does not support the Video element.
San Jose candidates say thieves are stealing campaign signs
Some San Jose candidates for city council seats say their campaign signs have been stolen multiple times over the last few weeks.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Some San Jose candidates for city council seats say their campaign signs have been stolen multiple times over the last few weeks. The city’s election is scheduled for June 7th.
Van Le is running for the District 7 seat in San Jose and says hundreds of her campaign signs have been stolen. Replacing the signs will cost her more money but, she says she’s still in this race.
Van Le isn’t new to local politics. She’s run for city council in San Jose before but this time she says she's had more yard signs taken than ever before.
"I did report with San Jose Police Department. At that time it was about 175 but now it’s more than 225 signs that have been lost," Le said.
SEE ALSO: What to know about the California primary on June 7
Le says her campaign volunteers get written permission to place yard signs on people’s property in District 7 and if they change their minds, she’ll remove the sign. She says replacing them cost her from $4 to $8 per sign and she has her own theory as to why her signs are being stolen.
"This is not like one time, but at least some of them, this is like two or three times. So I feel that someone did not want my name out there and didn’t want me to win this election or whatever. So that’s what they did. So I feel very frustrated about this," said Le.
Le is facing off against Incumbent Maya Esparza and Bien Doan.
San Jose District 5 Candidate Rolando Bonilla also says his campaign signs are being taken. On May 22, he tweeted these photos that included a license plate number, asking people to contact San Jose Police if they saw this brown Toyota Tundra. He says the person driving had been seen taking his yard signs.
KTVU reached out to Bonilla but didn’t receive a response.
Le says despite her yard signs being stolen, she’s moving forward with her campaign.
"I believe this is maybe dirty politics but I stay positive because I’m still knocking on doors, to talk with the voter, to talk with the resident," she said.
Le says police told her that she has to identify someone responsible for taking the signs but until then, there’s not much they can do to help.