HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. -- The May primary is just days away, and tensions are running high in Hamilton County as two Republican candidates have accused each other of stealing campaign signs.
Hamilton County Council President Steve Schwartz is running for re-election. Over the weekend, the sheriff's office opened an investigation after Schwartz reported his signs were missing from the corner of 211th Street and Oak Bay Drive.
A camera set up at the corner led investigators to Lisa Hall, the wife of Schwartz's opponent, Mark Hall.
An RTV6 crew went to Hall's house, but nobody answered the door.
"She admitted to taking my signs and destroying them," Schwartz said. "To go out and steal a few signs and remove them, it's not necessary. Pick up the phone and call somebody and say 'Hey, come remove this.' If I'm in the wrong, fine, but I'm not. I have permission to be there."
In a statement, Hall's campaign accused Schwartz of trespassing to put his signs on the corner, saying Hall's is the only campaign with permission to put signs on the private property.
Schwartz said he has verbal permission to put signs on the property.
Both campaigns claim they've had dozens of signs stolen or destroyed by their opponent.
"It's in the detectives' hands of the sheriffs department," Schwartz said.
Investigators are trying to figure out who has the property rights to the corner in question, and who has permission to put up or take down signs there.
Amid all the bickering and finger-pointing, it begs the question: Are local politics starting to look more like Washington?
"I don't want Hamilton County politics to be like the federal government," Schwartz said. "This is small town USA."
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