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Conservatives and Ukip signs defaced in Sittingbourne and Sheppey

By: Lewis Dyson

Published: 00:01, 16 April 2015

Campaign signs belonging to The Conservatives and Ukip have been targeted by vandals.

A Hitler-style moustache was drawn on several of Gordon Henderson’s election campaign posters.

The graffiti was spotted on the billboards along Brielle Way, Sheerness.

A Hitler-style moustache was drawn on several of Gordon Henderson's campaign posters in the Sheppey and Sittingbourne area

Several others in the Sittingbourne area were also defaced in the same manner while some were completely demolished.

Mr Henderson said: “When I saw the first one I did smile, but as they spread across the Island it became a little tiresome.

“I know some people think it is all a bit of a laugh, but interfering in any way with election posters is a criminal offence and could lead to a hefty fine” - Gordon Henderson

“Whoever has been defacing the Sheppey signs obviously spent the weekend on the mainland because a number of posters in the Bapchild area have grown moustaches.

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“I am pleased to say that all the defaced and vandalized signs have been repaired already.

“I know some people think it is all a bit of a laugh, but interfering in any way with election posters is a criminal offence and could lead to a hefty fine.”

Ukip’s parliamentary candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey said the theft of campaign signs from a field was politically motivated.

Richard Palmer said three, 8x4m A-board displays carrying the message “Vote UKIP”, went missing from Halfway Road, Halfway, overnight on Sunday.

Mr Palmer said: “I personally feel that it was an organised decision for them to be taken and it was done by people sympathetic to a political group.”

He added the theft of the signs, which cost about £40 each and had been up since Friday, could be seen as an attack on freedom of speech.

MP Gordon Henderson will hold a meeting later this month to discuss the Island's ambulance services.

The Swale Ukip chairman said: “The police are keen to get to the bottom of it. It would have been organised to get them.

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“You couldn’t reach them from a road without going over the fence and you would need a few people to carry them.

A police spokesman said: “There have been no arrests.”

Mr Palmer went on to say campaigning had been “turning ugly” with attacks verbally and on Facebook. One Ukip activist was spat on in Sittingbourne.

An election hustings will be hosted by Churches Together in Sheppey at the church in Hope Street, Sheerness, on Wednesday, April 29, at 7.30pm.

Gordon Henderson (Con), Guy Nicholson (Lab), Richard Palmer (Ukip), Keith Nevols (Lib Dem) and Gary Miller (Grn) will all be there to debate Island issues.


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