NC Democratic candidate allegedly admits stealing Trump, Robinson signs

A Democratic candidate for office in North Carolina has allegedly admitted to stealing political signs for two high-profile Republicans.

On Thursday, a sheriff's deputy was out investigating a separate report when he noticed a man seemingly pulling political signs up out of the ground along Seven Lakes Drive in West End, an unincorporated area of Moore County located about two hours east of Charlotte.

The signs the man was apparently taking promoted U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, both Republicans.

'We acknowledge that Lowell Simon was caught doing something we don’t condone.'

After finishing his duties with the original report, the deputy then followed up with the suspected sign-stealer, later identified as 68-year-old Lowell Evan Simon.

According to a Facebook post from the sheriff's office, the signs were found inside Simon's vehicle, and the suspect admitted he had removed them. Simon was arrested and charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs. He was released with a written promise to appear in court at the end of this month.

Following his arrest, Simon spoke with the Pilot and indicated he had done nothing wrong.

"There were some signs that were illegally placed," Simon told the outlet. "What they are doing is, they are putting signs directly in front of or right up against other signs, and that’s a violation of the law, something we’ve known for years. You don’t do that because that’s illegal."

Simon claimed that he took the signs and placed them in his car with the intention of returning them "to the GOP office."

"I wasn’t doing it in the dark of night; it was the middle of the afternoon, and they were putting it right in front of the Harris signs. I figured I’d bring them over."

The signs were eventually returned "to their original owner," the Facebook post from the sheriff's office confirmed, though whether Simon delivered them is unclear.

Simon also claimed that signs supporting Democrat Kamala Harris have been stolen in the area as well. "I have been dealing with this all week, people calling me saying, 'My Harris signs have been stolen,' and, 'Can you give me any more?'

"All I do anymore is replace stolen signs," he said.

"Sheriff Ronnie Fields reminds the public that the removal or theft of campaign signs is a violation of North Carolina General Statute § 136-32(e), which protects the lawful placement of these signs during election periods," the Facebook post about Simon's arrest noted.

Simon is currently in the midst of a state House race, challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Neal Jackson for the seat representing District 78.

In response to Simon's arrest, the Democratic House Campaign Caucus said: "We acknowledge that Lowell Simon was caught doing something we don’t condone. We’re addressing it and moving forward."

The Pilot also described Simon as the Moore County Democratic Party chairman, and a WNCN report published Friday claimed he was listed as such on the organization's website. As of Monday afternoon, however, Simon is no longer mentioned on that page of the website, and Monique Baker is now listed as interim chair.

The Moore County Democratic Party did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News but gave WNCN the following statement: "Moore County Democrats and Democrats across our state, do not condone theft or destruction of property regarding political signs."

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