A man caught on camera defacing a political sign in Oro Valley is being sought by police.
On Monday the Oro Valley Police Department posted a black-and-white photo on Facebook of a man holding a Proposition 454 sign that reads 鈥淲hy Ax kids sports?鈥 just before a sign was defaced.
The image of the man clad in a baseball cap, shorts, white crew socks and tennis shoes was captured between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday. Additional photos show the man defacing a sign, police say.
The sign the man was holding refers to Axe the Tax OV, a grassroots effort opposed to the proposed property tax increase known as Proposition 454, a $17 million bond proposition to build new fields and other amenities at Naranja Park. If voters approve, a homeowner with a property valued at $250,000 would pay $54 in additional property taxes a year, the town estimates.
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The department is withholding additional information about the incident, including which of the signs in the photo he damaged, said Sgt. Troy Kranz, of Oro Valley police.
The man is wanted in connection with damage to the sign in the surveillance photo, but is likely to be asked about other signs recently damaged in the area.
Kranz said the city has had numerous complaints about political signs supporting and opposing Prop. 454 have been damaged, defaced, torn down and stolen.
Stealing, destroying and defacing campaign signs is a Class 2 misdemeanor, but Kranz said the department does not have enough information to speculate on what charges the man in the photograph could face.
Police ask anyone with information to contact the department at (520) 229-4900.
Contact reporter Joe Ferguson at jferguson@tucson.com or 573-4197. On Twitter: @JoeFerguson
Joe Ferguson
Reporter
