Vandals struck Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley?s street early Sunday morning, destroyinga large Gov. Robert Ehrlich sign that an O?Malley spokesman previously had called “obnoxious.”
At about 12:30 a.m., O?Malley?s neighbor Ida Manna reported to police that her controversial 32-square-foot Ehrlich sign, which drew headlines in August, had been torn down and thrown in the middle of the street.
“I feel like I was invaded,” said Manna, whose Baltimore City house sits across the street from O?Malley?s.
Manna said police officers told her other Ehrlich signs on the street were destroyed too.
“None of the O?Malley signs are gone,” she said.
Baltimore Police spokesman Matt Jablow confirmed that police received a report of a destroyed sign.
“There was one report of a damaged sign, possibly two,” Jablow said. “We have no idea who did this or why.”
O?Malley campaign spokesman Rick Abbruzzese, who in August called Manna?s sign “obnoxious,” said the mayor does not condone destroying signs.
Brian Harlin, owner of the GOP Shoppe, which makes political signs, said he?s seen and heard of profanities placed on Ehrlich-Cox signs in Howard County.
Ehrlich signs were also destroyed at five locations along Route 40 and Security Boulevard in Baltimore County late Saturday night, said Maryland Republican party spokeswoman Audra Miller.
But vandalism has cut both ways, Abbruzzese said.
“We?ve had a number of signs that have been vandalized,” he said. “It?s probably not an orchestrated campaign by either side.
“It?s probably overzealous volunteers.”
As for Manna, she immediately ordered a new, large Ehrlich sign. It was delivered and posted on her front lawn at 1 p.m. Sunday.
