Candidates and officials at local campaign offices for the Oct. 14 federal election are condemning the recent vandalism done to their own and other candidates' signs around the city.

"I deplore it," NDP candidate Ken Bolton said Thursday, arguing that not only is it against the law, but it's also "sleazy".

While he hasn't seen a lot of his own signs damaged, Bolton noted he's seen more of incumbent Liberal candidate Larry Bagnell's markers damaged, with Conservative candidate Darrell Pasloski's signs appearing to have taken the brunt.

Several of Pasloski's signs had duct tape stuck over his mouth in the photo used on the signs.

"We're not happy. The signs are expensive," Warren Holland, who's co-managing Pasloski's campaign, said Thursday. "There's been a lot."

At the same time, the situation isn't disrupting the campaign, he noted.

The vandalism means that those working on the sign portion of the campaign go out and fix the signs up, along with putting more up as the campaign continues.

"It's not slowing us down," he said, suggesting that those not happy with a candidate shouldn't vote for him rather than deface the signs.

Bagnell's campaign manager, Shayne Fairman, said vandalism to signs has been part of each campaign.

"It's a campaign reality," he said, noting in one case, a vehicle drove over a supporter's lawn to damage a Bagnell sign.

Fortunately, people often phone in to report such damage, with volunteers then going out to fix up the signs.

Bolton noted that when he noticed Bagnell signs vandalized on his own street, he phoned Fairman to let the Liberal campaign office know, and, he joked, to ensure they didn't think it was his campaign damaging the Liberal signs.

While the Conservatives have gone to a format showing their candidates on the sign, the others are keeping to signs that mainly feature the party's and candidate's name only.

Fairman said the photo format seems to invite more mischief.

In this case, vandals seem to want to send a more deliberate message by using duct tape over Pasloski's mouth, he noted.

While the Liberals prefer a sign format that is closer to displaying exactly what voters will see on the ballot, Fairman noted that any vandalism to election signs shows disrespect to people's choices in who they're voting for.

Green Party candidate John Streicker agrees vandalism to any candidate's sign is "awful" and reflects badly on everyone.

So far, Streicker knows of about a half-dozen of his signs that have been knocked down.

His environmental stance has proved to work well with his signs. Made of recycled hockey pucks, the signs are tough and difficult to knock down, he said.

Though he condemns the vandalism, he also recalled the first call he received on a vandalized sign came from a supporter who, along with informing him of the situation, also commented now that it happened, the Greens are "now an official party" in the election.

Clause 325 of the Elections Act "prohibits the removal, covering up, or altering of any printed election advertising without the consent of the person who authorized it. Provision was added to permit its removal or prevention or transmission by authorized persons, where it might be a hazard or unlawful."

Complaints about vandalism are dealt with by the Commissioner of Canada Elections office, with fines of up to $1,000 and/or three months in jail.