An Oil City School Board candidate’s campaign sign was vandalized with Nazi imagery recently, prompting condemnation from the Venango County Election board.
The sign, which belongs to Devon Aaron, was located at the intersection of Innis and West First streets in Oil City.
Aaron, whose children are enrolled in Oil City schools, has addressed the Oil City School Board on several occasions with her concerns about the We Care and SAFE-T lessons, a sexual harassment curriculum the district has considered re-implementing in the elementary and middle schools.
A swastika was drawn on Aaron’s sign and it was defaced in other manners as well.
“That’s highly illegal, it’s a federal crime,” Venango County Election Board member Mike Dulaney said. “Tampering with signs either vandalizing them or stealing them is a crime and is not tolerated,” he added.
He added that if anyone sees signs being vandalized, it should be reported to the election board, which normally hands those things off to the county district attorney’s office.
“The thing is, it’s often hard to prove who did it but in today’s society with cameras everywhere, it’s not worth the risk,” Dulaney said.
Aaron said she plans to file a report with the Oil City Police Department.
Voters head to the polls one week from today to choose candidates to fill a number of countywide, municipal and school board positions across the tri-county area.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.
