LAURINBURG —The saga of signs at the Scotland County Republican Party headquarters seems to have come full circle.
The day after a reader complained about a “Thank You Jesus,” being placed at the local GOP headquarters, it was stolen.
But Scotland Republicans said that sign was only up in response to a Trump/Pence being stolen the day after the election.
“It is a shame that people do not have respect for one’s personal property,” said Jim Johnston,who serves as treasurer for the county Republicans.
Police said the two yard signs, which were yellow and read “Thank You Jesus,” were taken on Wednesday from the headquarters off the 15-401 Bypass in Laurinburg. The signs were located in the front yard of the property, positioned near the side of the road.
The signs were taken the day after Sue Fidler’s letter appeared in the newspaper. Fidler, a Democrat, wrote that the signs gave the impression that Jesus was a Republican.
“What good does it do … plastering signs proclaiming Jesus’ favor?” she said in the letter.
But Johnston, who penned his own letter to The Exchange, said the Jesus signs were in response to an act of vandalism at the headquarters after the election. Johnston said two Trump/ Pence banners were stolen on Nov. 10, two days after Trump’s election as president.
“I took the yard signs to mean thank you Jesus for giving us the strength to forgive those that did not respect our property,” Johnston wrote.
Mark Schenck, Scotland County Republican Party chairman, said it “is kinda of sad that it has come to people stealing religious signs.”
“Everything was going along pretty good, until the editorial came out,” Schenck said Thursday. “She misunderstood what we meant by the signs.”
The stolen Trump signs were valued at $150.
“The Trump signs were political, this is religious. To me — evidently someone has a problem with Jesus,” Johnston said. “The Pence signs, that’s purely political — someone had a problem with the election results, but the Jesus signs surprised me.”
Scotland Democrats have condemn both thefts.
“We discourage anyone from doing this, whether they are a Democrat, Republican or Independent,” said Jan Schmidt, a member of the Scotland County Democratic Women.