Staff Reports
STAFF REPORTS

Numerous candidate signs stolen over the weekend in Buda and Kyle subdivisions were not taken as a political strategy but for a prank, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

Two male suspects, aged 17 and 19 years old, stole the signs of Hays County candidates and planted them onto a friend’s yard in the Leisurewoods subdivision in Buda, police say.

Mark Jones, a candidate in the Precinct 2 Hays County Commissioner race, had said that almost 50 of his signs were stolen from various subdivisions, amounting to several hundred dollars lost.

Security cameras at one of the subdivisions captured the license plate of the vehicle used in the thefts, as well as video footage of the teenagers pulling out the signs, Jones said.

The license plate number led police to a Driftwood address, where police confronted the owner of the suspect vehicle. The 19-year-old owner admitted that he and his friend took the signs.

This case will be turned over to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office for their review and determination on if any charges should be filed.