VIRGINIA BEACH — An unidentified woman appeared to have been caught on a home-security camera Thursday removing a political sign for Rep. Scott Taylor, walking across the street with it, and having a neighbor throw it behind a truck.
Nicholas Olenik, who owns the house where the sign was taken, posted footage of his NEST home-security camera captured from a window in the front of his home.
Olenik said the mystery woman was walking through his neighborhood in Kempsville registering people to vote.
“If you don’t like who I’m supporting, you can vote on election day,” Olenik said. “That is your recourse. You can’t just steal my yard sign.”
At approximately 1:30 into the video, a woman with a yellow shirt can be seen entering the frame from the right.
She removes the sign, walks across the street, and can be seen in the far-right edge of the video handing the sign to a neighbor, who then walks behind a pickup and attempts to throw the sign over a fence. The woman in yellow then walks to the next house.
Olenik said within an hour, he had 20 additional Taylor signs delivered to his home. There are now three signs supporting Taylor’s reelection to the U.S. Congress, instead of one.
“I’ve got the rest on reserve in case these get taken,” Olenik said.
Olenik did not file a police report about the incident because he said he wanted “to be more neighborly” than the neighbor across the street who aided the woman.
It was not immediately known for which organization the woman was working for.
