A campaign sign for a Student Programming Association presidential candidate was removed without permission from its location in front of the Bollinger Memorial Student Union Sunday. Maggie Jones, mass communication junior from Thibodaux, put up the 4 foot by 8 foot yellow sign Thursday. The sign was still hanging between two trees Saturday night, when Jones’ friends drove by the Student Union. At about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the $200 sign was gone.

“When I found out it was stolen, I was really upset and mad because I don’t really know why anybody would want to steal a sign or target my sign. There are other campaign signs hanging in front the Union,” Jones said. “I just think it’s pathetic. There are better things to do than steal a sign.”

Upon realizing the sign was missing, Jones contacted Auxiliary Services in hopes that the maintenance staff may have removed it. When Auxiliary Services did not have the sign, Jones contacted University Police to file a report.

University Police have not found the individuals responsible for removing the sign, but the incident is under investigation. If the people responsible are found and charged, they could face a misdemeanor fine of up to $1,000 and a maximum of one year in prison. If students are involved, the Judicial Affairs officer will most likely handle the situation, University Police director Craig Jaccuzzo said.

“That is a crime,” Jaccuzzo said. “I think it’s horrible and a direct action to interfere with our democratic process to allow the freedom of election.”

Jones said although she is upset that her sign was stolen, she realizes that “signs always get stolen.” To solve this problem, Jones said the University should adopt surveillance cameras and pay more attention to the issue.

“The police department knows signs get stolen all the time during elections, but they need to patrol and drive around and watch out for that kind of stuff,” Jones said. “They know it happens, so why don’t they do anything?”

Jones has not filed a grievance with the Student Government Association concerning her missing sign, but she said she may do so in the future.

As for the individuals responsible, Jones said she hopes they will consider returning the sign.

“If they have it, return it. It was expensive,” Jones said. “You can put it back on the tree. Nobody else has to know.