Hinkler candidate Zak Menhennett offers reward after signs defaced

Election signs are under attack in the race for Wide Bay and Hinkler, and a One Nation candidate is taking matters into his own hands after copping thousands of dollars in losses.

Defacing election signs might be illegal, but that has failed to stop it from happening every time an election is announced.

Now one Hinkler candidate whose signs have been under attack is taking matters into his own hands.

One Nation hopeful Zak Menhennett is offering a $500 reward for any information that leads to a conviction after being left more than $4000 out of pocket by repeated vandalism.

One of his signs had the eyes gouged out, horns and a moustache drawn on it and “I like n-----” written on Mr Menhennett’s forehead.

More than 150 of his signs across the electorate had been defaced so far, Mr Menhennett said, and replacing them was not cheap.

“I’m a fully self-funded candidate. I don’t have the donors like the major parties, the cost of these signs come out of my pocket,” he said.

One of Hinkler One Nation candidate Zak Menhennett’s signs was defaced with ”I like n-----” written on it.

Mr Menhennett’s signs are far from the only ones to come under fire during this election campaign.

At Curra, in the Wide Bay electorate, another resident who appeared to be campaigning in support of United Australia Party candidate Tracy Bennett, took to social media to blast the anonymous culprits.

“To the person who ran over our election corflutes, we want you to know that we have 450 extra signs and countless posts thanks to the shipping company that lost our original order,” Reid Butler posted on Facebook.

“ I live nearby and will be checking the signs every day morning and afternoon.

“It‘s already fixed.

“This is illegal and has been reported to the police.”

A Curra resident apparently supporting Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has taken to social media to blast vandals he said drove over the signs he had erected.

They ultimately locked comments off on the post after it devolved into criticism over “election propaganda” being “shoved down our throats”.

Mr Menhennett was replacing his signs too.

The cost was not cheap though.

“I’ve had to order another 150 more at a cost of $8 each and stakes which are about the same price,” Mr Menhennett said.

“You then need to take into consideration screws and washers, time and fuel of driving around to place these corflutes it all starts to add up.”

Hinkler One Nation candidate Zak Menhennett is offering a reward for any information that leads to a conviction over the defacement of his signs after being forced to spend thousands of dollars replacing them.

Other signs had been vandalised with comments he said were “quite rude and schoolchildren driving or walking passed shouldn’t be exposed to”.

Mr Menhennett said it would depend on the election result as to whether or not he recouped that money.

The Gympie Times tried to contact Mr Butler and the United Australia Party for more comment but had received no response at the time of publication.

Police said the destruction or theft of election signage was a serious matter and “encourage anyone who may witness these offences or have further information regarding suspicious activity to contact Policelink on 131 444”.