A Utah man booby-trapped his Harris-Walz sign in a bid to deter thieves and filmed the result.
Less than a month out from the 2024 election, there have been reports of people stealing political campaign signs, and a TikTok user calling themselves Sculpin has decided to get creative with safeguarding his.
The Beehive State resident installed the sign in his yard, and those who tried to steal it were in for a surprise as it was bolted down, attached by a wire and fitted with an alarm, according to videos on his TikTok profile.
One video, which has had more than 183,000 views at the time of writing was shared with the caption “My second Utah for Harris/Walz sign wasn’t so easy to steal this time was it?”
In what looks to be security cam footage, the sign can be seen at the front of the yard. A person then runs up and tries to steal the sign, but as he runs away you can hear someone shouting, “Ow.”
So, what happened, and how was Sculpin deterring thieves from stealing the sign? He explained in a follow up video which has been viewed 878,000 times at the time of writing.
“For those of you who asked how I was able to keep this guy from actually stealing my sign, this is how,” he said in the video.
“I glued a quarter inch piece of wood with some spray glue to the back of the sign. I then did three through bolts, the one in the center is attached to the cable, that cable is then attached to my fence with a lock,” he explained.
“I had to use two stakes, two posts,” he said, noting that it would otherwise be too heavy. “I’ve got a little purple thing here, that thing is like a screamer, like a screecher thing. Basically, when you separate that, separate those two pieces it makes a really loud noise. I have those staked to the ground, I added that yesterday.”
“So if somebody does come and cut the cable and walk off with it, it will start screeching.”
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
He also shared another video of a Harris-Walz campaign sign attached to a tree.
“I don’t care who you vote for,” he said in the video. “Don’t be a dirtbag and steal people’s signs. Let people promote who they wanna promote.”
Newsweek has reached out to Sculpin for comment via his TikTok profile.
Utah has remained a reliably Republican state in presidential elections since 1964, with the exception of some discontent shown in 2016 due to the nature of Trump’s candidacy. The state’s large Mormon population and conservative values have heavily influenced its voting patterns.
Stealing or vandalizing political signs is illegal in all 50 states and constitutes theft and trespassing.
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