An SDLP Westminster candidate has said he refuses to be intimidated after his election posters were removed and slashed with a blade.
Around 15 of the posters for Daniel McCrossan, who is standing in West Tyrone, were removed in Omagh town centre between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Mr McCrossan, who is currently an MLA for the West Tyrone Stormont constituency, said the posters were later located “in the middle of nowhere” and damaged.
He said the images of his face on the posters had been repeatedly slashed with a knife.
It is the second time Mr McCrossan’s posters have been damaged since the General Election campaign got underway. Last week a number of his posters were removed and cut in half in Artigarvan.
Speaking of the latest incidents, he said it was “incredibly disheartening” to see his posters targeted again.
“The posters have been cut so many times they are now unusable, with repeated knife marks through the poster where my face is displayed,” he said.
Mr McCrossan said there “can be no justification for the continued targeting of my posters”.
“Whatever your view on posters, they remain a part of elections here and an attack on them is an attack on the democratic process,” he said.
“I have regretfully reported this latest theft to police and would urge those engaging in this behaviour to stop at once. These posters will be replaced at significant cost, but let me absolutely clear, nobody will intimidate me or stop me from working to be an MP that actually shows up and delivers for the people of West Tyrone.”
A PSNI spokesperson said the posters had been found dumped in the Beltany Road area outside Omagh.
Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference number 1274 of 11/06/24,2 they said.
“We will thoroughly investigate all incidents which are reported to us involving the damage to and theft of election posters. Any identified suspects will be liable to prosecution.”
