Vandalism of Scottish independence signs

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the Independence debate has been largely peaceful in general. Sure there has been the odd egg, or in George Galloway’s case fist, being thrown around but overall the campaigns have been peaceful ones.

This was until things took a more sinister turn thanks to a number of reported criminal activities. Unsurprisingly given the ever-growing number of ‘YES’ and ‘No thanks’ signs littering our rural landscapes there has been a sharp rise in vandalism accusations – from both sides of the debate.

Both sides have widely condemned any kind of criminal acts, nevertheless there are many incidents still appearing all over Scotland.

 

It first started around the end of June when somebody was so adamant that “Robertson”, whoever he is, should vote Yes that they felt inclined to deface a school.

Whether or not Robertson will indeed vote Yes remains to be seen but this act generally did the pro-independence campaign more damage than anything else. Police described it as an “attack” and even a Scottish councillor suggested it was “deeply upsetting” whilst local opinionists were left shocked that children had been “targeted”. Christ.

 

Things turned from ugly to damn right outrageous when some hooligans decided to target stickers with OTHER STICKERS!

As you can see from the image above, it was the turn of the anti-independence brigade to tarnish their otherwise spotless reputation with petty criminal activity.  Graeme Martin told East Kilbride News: “It’s a proper adhesive sticker (like the ones dentists give children) and that took me ages to get off”. Shocking.

It was also claimed by Graeme that his sticker was “spat at” whilst in Paisley, whether that was by a human, bird, plane or superman remains to be seen.

 

Things took a more clumsy turn when a vandal decided the best colour of spray paint to deface a purple sign was – purple.

This sign, which sits at the entrance Middlebank, created quite a stir with many locals barely even noticing the difference.

DCI Ken Whodunnit said “Everyone knows you use a different colour can from your background. Whoever carried this out, be it a human, bird, plane or superman, is clearly a rubbish scoundrel”.

Last month, more than a dozen campaign signs were vandalised around Aberdeenshire alone, however it is important to note that the vast majority of these were jokes about animal interference and not related to the debate itself.

The company who made the sign refused to comment on suggestions they had used Potteresque wizardry to confuse potential defacers.

 

The end of August brought some more scandaless acts which left an unsavoury taste in the mouth, literally.

Perhaps the best worst of all the skulduggery came from a pro-independence shop in Midlothian. Faeces, or s**t to Midlothian residents, was found “smeared” across the shops door handles.

Whilst appearing to hold back definite signs of laughter student Andrew MacLeod, 26, told the Scotsman: “It was stinking and really horrible. Whoever did it tried to do it sneakily so it was behind the handles.” Clever.

It is clear to see that the better together campaign has a real mess on its hand with this situation. Whether the excreta was that of a human, bird, plane or superman remains to be seen.

 

Image: @gazzafield

The final amazing act up the salmons sleeve involved hypnotizing livestock. As you can see by the terrifying images above, the Yes campaign has persuaded these 200 lbs Aberdeen Angus steaks to wreak havoc with No thanks propaganda.

With Alex Salmond denying any involvement, and the cows being unable to comment – due to being cows – the whole incident has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue.

If these acts of criminal activity will have any influence on the Independence vote, come September the 18^th, remains to be seen.

So if you are voting ‘Aye’ or ‘Naw’ it’s important to remember that vandalism Is never the answer* and also dentists may be funding the better together campaign through adhesive stickers?

*Unless the question is “What is never the answer?”

Written by Tommie, a blogger and marketer currently talking all things signs for your favourite sign experts, Sign Industries.