Banner Bandit til the end: Four banners stolen from Square on last campaign day

A beleaguered Union Election campaign was hit one final time yesterday, as the Banner Bandit stole four more candidates’ banners over the last full day of campaigns.

The unknown culprit, or culprits, snatched four banners, belonging to election candidates Beth Smith (Women’s Officer), Rokas “Rocky” Lučinskas (Activities and Opportunities), Yinbo Yu (Activities and Opportunities) and Daniel Delargy (Welfare).

The Square, bereft of banners.

Yinbo Yu – who the Tab reported had his first banner stolen last Sunday – had his banner ripped down for the second time.

Yu commented on Facebook: “The voting has clearly become more intense as my SECOND banner has been ripped down!

“Let’s show these haters something to be afraid of and vote me as your 1st choice for Activities and Opportunities Officer so I can stamp out this discrimination and continue to create a fairer campus for all. A vote for Yinbo is a vote for YOU.”

Rocky Lučinskas, meanwhile, vented to the Tab about his frustration with the Bandit’s theft of his own banner – and the apparent lack of effort to find him: “I’m absolutely furious. I know it’s probably gonna have minimal damage to the results of the elections, but the principle of it makes me very upset.

“And if something like this happens in the centre of campus, what does it say about safety at our university?

“Security would come within 5-10 minutes if you are skating on the premises, where was it last night? Is the security we pay for with our fees here to control us, or to make our experience more safe and satisfying?”

Never annoy a man with a boxing glove.

He also advanced his own theory as to the “bandit’s” identity.

“I have my own theory of freshers taking them and possibly keeping them in dorms as some sort of trophy. I was a careless fresher once and I can relate with drunk mind of a young person. I just think that because dorms are close to the square, it’s easier to come and leave unseen.”

Fellow Activities and Opportunities candidate, Alec Kent, expressed equal disgust at the theft, questioning what the Bandit’s actions towards Rocky meant for democratic representation during an election.

“I believe in democracy. I’ve taken my own banner down, because without all of them it’s not representative and it’s not fair.”

Daniel Delargy meanwhile, found his banner – which featured in the Tab’s previous article – had been removed when he arrived on campus yesterday morning at 10:30am.

Delargy commented: “I don’t know who has an obsession with candidate banners this year, but it seems like they’re accumulating quite a collection.”

He also suspected his banner had been stolen by freshers overnight, possibly during the Kodaline gig which took place at the LCR on Wednesday night.

Beth Smith likewise expressed regret and surprise that her banner had fallen victim to the Bandit.

Speaking to the Tab, she said: “My banner does seem to have disappeared, which is unfortunate.

“I guess its a bit frustrating and not really in the spirit of the elections, but the campaign continues with or without a banner!”

The Deputy Returning Officer for the election again refused to comment, but did confirm that security are currently reviewing footage from The Square’s CCTV tapes.

Any perpetrators of the theft who are caught may be disciplined in accordance with Union policy.

But Daniel Delargy issued his own challenge to the Bandit. He joked that he would stop the music and challenge the “Banner Bandito” to a dance-off during next week’s St. Patrick’s Day LCR, and invited the individual to bring his best moves to the floor.

“I’ll bring my Zorro mask, sword, and a miniature guitar,” he said.

Are you the banner bandit? Are you going to participate in Daniel’s dance-off? If you’d like to tell your side of the story, contact The Tab at [email protected]

Results of the election will be announced at 5pm this evening.