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Campaign Signs For Long Island Democrat Defaced With Words 'Gay Lover' And 'Baby Killer'

Courtesy of WNYC via Perry Gershon's campaign
Campaign signs across the Long Island District were defaced, according to Perry Gershon's campaign.

Dozens of lawn signs forDemocrat Perry Gershon, who is challenging Republican Congressman Lee Zeldinin New York's 1st Congressional District, were spray-painted with the words "baby killer" and "gay lover," according to Gershon's campaign.

Supporters noticed their "Perry Gershon, Democrat for Congress" lawn signs were missing in the last few weeks, according to Gershon's campaign. Then around 50 defaced signs reappeared across the district, mostly along Route 27, Sunday night.

"The first thing I did was call my campaign manager and my son and another person who I knew lived nearby where the signs were reported and told them to go remove them," Gershon said. "But then I learned within the hour that they were more plentiful than I had realized."

Suffolk County Police said they had not received a formal complaint but they were aware of the situation and their hate-crimes detectives were reaching out to Gershon's campaign to see whose signs were damaged. They're also working with a local LGBT community center in Bay Shore and beefing up patrols there as a precaution, police officials said.

In the past week, the nation has been rocked as more than a dozen potentially explosive pipe bombs were sent to prominent Democratsby an ardent supporter of President Trump; amass shooting took place at a Pittsburgh synagogue; and an armed white man in Kentucky tried to enter an African-American church and then murdered two black women in a nearby parking lot. Amid the national backdrop of divisiveness and polarization, Gershon, who is running against Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin, called for calm.

"Hate mongering has no place in America, especially in political campaigns," Gershon said. "We must tone down the rhetoric and not make people with crazy points of view feel empowered to put them out."

Zeldin spokesman Chris Boyle echoed Gershon's calls for civility and said they didn't know who was behind the vandalism.

“We have no idea who did this, but they should stop immediately," Boyle said, adding that some of Zeldin's supporters had reported their campaign signs had been stolen or defaced as well. He also referenced an incident where aGershon staffer was accused of assault when she swatted a phone from member of the New York Federation of College Republicans. "We are reminded how there is absolutely no place for any of this now or in the future. Political violence and hate have no place in our political discourse."

The latest vandalism comes at the heels of an incident in August, where celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's home in Mattituck was vandalized with the words "Trump" and "Cuomo = Death to America," after he displayed a Perry Gershon lawn sign, the Suffolk Times reported. A month before that, a man threatened to kill Congressman Zeldin and tried to run over one of Zeldin's campaign workers with his car.

A spokesman for Zeldin called for the vandalism to stop.

Suffolk County police said they're aware of the situation and are investigating.