With just three weeks until Election Day, political candidates' signs are the most recent targets of vandalism.

One day you may see the name of a candidate on a sign; the next morning the sign may be gone, or you can't read the sign. Graffiti, profanity, scribble and names of other candidates have been painted across election signs. In some cases, vandalism is so bad you don't know what candidate the sign is for.

Sometimes, the sign has disappeared from where it was posted.

Cheraw Police Chief J.A. Graves said law officers are responding to a lot of candidate signage problems during this election.

From putting signs where they don't belong, stealing and/or moving or defacing them, police are getting plenty of complaints.

Cheraw and Chesterfield have ordinances in their towns against posting signs on public right-of-ways, parks, streets, telephone poles or street signs.

Cheraw Town Hall has a collection of signs that have been inappropriately placed. Politicians have been informed, said Town Administrator Bill Taylor, but some candidates' very enthusiastic volunteers either do not know the law or choose to ignore it. Whether it's by kids or adults, defacing a sign on private property, he said, is considered malicious vandalism to property with a fine of up to $1,000.