Papers Today

// Phantom slasher warns posters will be destroyed if they are not eco-friendly

'Stanley Knife' goes to work on election signs

Somebody calling themself 'Stanley Knife' and claiming to be from the 'Keep Wicklow Beautiful Association' is warning General Election candidates that their posters will be destroyed if they are not environmentally friendly.

And already, candidates are finding themselves the target of a group claiming to have already gone to work in a number of different locations around the county.

The mail clearly states, 'We, the environmentally concerned, are intent on causing as much inconvenience to those candidates who are blatantly misusing our natural resources to get their ugly profiles on every pole and every open green space in Wicklow. 'How dare you deface our beautiful county with your tacky election instruments. If any one of you were truly concerned about our environment and keeping Wicklow the garden county, you would desist from defacing our county any further.' 'Stanley Knife' goes on to say that the campaign will continue until the election is over, and all signage mounted on imported 'non-environmentally friendly' wood will be a priority for the organisation. Bray councillor and member of Environment Minister Dick Roche's election team, David Grant, feels that the group may have already struck, even at this early stage. 'On Sunday and Monday a number of our election posters were damaged, at least five or six of them. The incidents seem to be taking place at night, and nearly all our posters in Newtown were vandalised. Even before the election was called, our offices in Kilcoole and Bray were both attacked. It's a real concern.' © Wicklow People