To the Editor:

Regarding last week’s Editorial about lawn sign thefts, when my wife and I moved to Newtown three decades ago, there were few, if any, lawn signs anywhere. It was as if we were all obeying an unwritten rule that said such messages were not needed.

Other towns had them. When we drove down Route 136 on our way to the Westport train station during an election season, some areas around four-way stop sign intersections were peppered with lawn signs — literally dozens jammed together so tightly that it was hard to read most of them.

Then the signs began popping up around Newtown and now, like the ugly invasive weeds that cover many areas of town, it’s gotten out of hand. I’m all for freedom of speech, but honestly, do we need six identical signs spread across a lawn like a Burma-Shave sign advertisement from the 1950s? And what’s with the mini-billboards? Do they violate zoning regs?

What’s interesting these days is that many signs don’t display a candidate’s party affiliation. Are these candidates not proud to represent their party? Who do these candidates represent? Themselves?

Ray Peterson

Newtown