Watch Out, That Presidential Yard Sign May Be Booby-Trapped

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With the presidential election—dear God, finally—a mere day away, it’s your last chance to let your neighbors know how you feel by planting a “Hillary for America!” or “I’m with Trump!” sign in your front yard. That is, if you dare.

With political tensions so high, your sign could end up plucked from the ground, spray-painted with profanities, mauled, doused in Silly String, turned into roadkill, or worse.

There’s no doubt it’s been a rough election season for political yard signs. Yet if you’re determined to keep your signs safe and sound, there is a way.

So what’s the secret? Just booby-trap them.

Millicent Feske, a 63-year-old minister in Philadelphia, came up with this crafty solution after her “Vote for Hillary” signs were stolen a week after she’d put them up. So she ordered more signs, and rigged them with DIY alarm systems cobbled together from online instructions.

Her “traps” consist of fishing line, security key chains that emit a piercing beep if pulled from the pin, and even Vaseline “slime” as an added deterrent. That said, she told Philly.com, “Nobody’s going to get hurt. … I didn’t electrify them or anything like that.”

And so far, it’s worked! Her signs have stayed put.

Genius, yes. But also sad, right? I mean, what kind of country do we live in where it’s commonplace for campaign signs to get ripped out of your own front lawn?

Hard data have yet to materialize, but according to regional news reports it appears that political lawn sign vandalism is at near historic levels this election year. Across the U.S. there are countless accounts of signs getting defaced, burned, run over, or ripped off repeatedly—prompting homeowners to fight back by a variety of means. Some set up video cameras to catch the perps; others post more signs like, “Every time you steal one of our signs, we contribute another $50 to the so-and-so campaign. Thank you for your support!”

Despite homeowners trying to safeguard their signs as best they can, it seems like the naysayers may be winning. Experts have noticed that yard signs seem to be conspicuously absent this year. In an article titled, “Signs, Signs, Where Are All the Presidential Campaign Signs?,” the Times Leader theorizes that Americans may fear that posting these signs only invites trouble well beyond stolen signs. Passers-by with different political leanings could key your car or spray-paint your house.

Yet some political scientists argue that the decline in yard signs is merely due to the rise in digital media as a way to spread the word. Whatever the reason, though, the death knell of political yard signs seems to be tolling, prompting Campaigns & Elections journal to go so far as to ask: “Will 2016 Mark the End of the Lawn Sign?”

Whatever the reason, we guess certain die-hard sign posters such as Feske will keep at it, particularly since her booby trap worked—almost too well, since the one time it was tripped was a false alarm.

“The alarm went off,” Fesk told Philly.com. “But that’s because my neighbor Steve mowed the lawn.”

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