Every autumn, campaign signs pop up around the region. So do the reports of signs being stolen.

The latest case in point comes from East Lyme, where the political sign kleptomania appears particularly acute. Party leaders report that more than 100 signs for various municipal candidates have vanished from yards. Signs in favor of Democrats appear to be taking the brunt of the thievery.

The pleas to stop it have been bipartisan.

Whether an act of political guerrilla warfare meant to weaken opponents by cutting down on their visibility, or carried out by those who find the signs unsightly, the conduct is detestable. While it is hardly a high-priority police matter, it would send a message if someone was caught and embarrassed.

The signs are particularly multitudinous during municipal elections, held on odd years in Connecticut. There are more signs because local elections have so many candidates — for school boards and councils, selectmen and mayor, representative town meeting, treasurer, clerk, and the list goes on.

These low-level elections are often popularity contests and getting one’s name and face before the public on a campaign sign is seen as a means of raising one’s profile. Whether the signs are effective is another question. In an age when candidates can use social media to promote themselves, the signs are arguably becoming antiquated.

However, they are a form of free speech that the public should respect, or at least tolerate. Some groan the signs are unpleasant. You want unpleasant? How about living in societies where you can end up in a political prison for putting up the wrong political sign, or defacing a state-approved one.

Think of them as freedom signs. They’ll be gone in a few weeks.