City Council member hopes story of stolen sign teaches lesson on respect

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By Christine Holmes, News Director

What started out as a learning moment for her five young children turned out to be a lesson for an entire community when City Councilwoman Joey Osborn posted a video of her campaign sign being removed from a yard in Zanesville. 

“I really just put it up to show that, you know, it was a teachable moment for children,” said Osborn. “I didn’t expect folks to become so involved in the story.”

Over the weekend, a friend of Osborn’s shared a video with her of his yard sign being taken by a stranger.

The video captures the man parking his car, running across the street, pulling the sign out of the ground and placing it in his trunk before driving away. 

The homeowner does not know who took the sign and believes it was stolen. 

“If it was taken and it was taken on purpose, I have found great solace in that the Facebook community has really rallied around the issue,” said Osborn. “People I don’t even know have sent me messages, folks that I barely know or I know that their political views don’t even agree with mine have messaged me and said we won’t tolerate this behavior, and I think that’s, that’s just a great thing that our community would rally around and say no matter the candidate, we’re just not going to tolerate this behavior.”

Osborn said she hopes her story teaches a lesson of respect for those with differing opinions. 

“I hope that folks learn from this that you can express your opinion, too, and if it’s different, that’s OK, but the best place to do it is on Nov. 5 at the ballot box,” said Osborn.

The Zanesville Police Department was contacted about the matter. According to Captain Comstock, it is a misdemeanor crime to steal campaign signs from yards. 

*Correction: This story originally included that third-grade students at Nashport Elementary School created handmade signs of their own after learning that Osborn’s sign was stolen. Y-City News has been informed that the students’ motive for making the signs was not political and that the students were never informed about the stolen sign.