Families speak out about Obama vandalism

AMANDA TOWNSHIP - After vandalism and other attempts at her home, an Allen County woman is speaking out about her right to support the candidate of her choice.

The damage comes on the heels of previous vandalism at the Spencerville home of Karri and Dan Krendl, who participated in a Barns for Obama program with a Barack Obama logo painted on the family farm barn.

Gwen Pricer, an Obama supporter, has seen two Obama banners at her Fort Amanda Road property damaged.

The Krendl barn was vandalized twice, once with a racial epithet and again with sprayed paint. Each time family members have repainted the barn and now they've added some new security measures. The family has reported the damage to the Allen County Sheriff's Office and is offering a reward for information leading to prosecution.

Saturday night, Pricer's son heard something and went outside to see someone dousing a sign with oil and gasoline to set it on fire. The person ran and drove away. Sunday morning, someone drove through Pricer's property and ran over a second sign.

Pricer said she won't take the signs down, even after a deputy suggested the safest thing for her horse might be to take a banner off a barn wall.

"I'm not about to take them down. My son fixed them," Pricer said. "These are hate crimes against Obama. Should I take the signs out of my window? Would someone burn the house down? I have a young Republican friend whose husband is fighting right now in Iraq on the premise of providing the freedoms we enjoy here: our basic right to select and support the candidate of our choice."

Karri Krendl said the vandalism has left her family angry and disappointed.

"My [John] McCain supporting and Republican friends are just as angry about this," Krendl said. "We welcome an open political debate, but this is done out of ignorance. Someone has been on our property and done a lot of physical damage. We did this as a symbol of a hopeful and positive future and it's been saddening for us."

The Allen County Sheriff's Office has no leads and won't classify the vandalism as hate crimes, officers said. Until the office knows otherwise, the vandalism will be labeled as just that, more as a juvenile prank.

Other vandalism incidents have been reported around the country during the fall campaign.

In September, a homeowner in a Columbus suburb reported her home was vandalized. Someone spray painted the words "Death Obama" on a brick wall near an Obama yard sign, according to The Associated Press.