San Antonio residents are coming home to discover that the city's codes employees have been busy removing political signs placed on public property, reports KENS 5 Eyewitness News. Such signs are not allowed in public right of ways and according to TxDOT, that includes signs in or on "trees, telephone poles, traffic signs." Placing them there is a Class C misdemeanor and carries a $500 fine per violation.

One such resident told the news channel that she received no warning or any information regarding her offense; she did, however, say she wants her signs back. Bad news: the city trashes confiscated signs.

So, where can you put your lawn flare? Pretty much anywhere that belongs to you. According to state law, municipalities cannot regulate signs placed on private property with the owner's consent (this includes property that borders state highways). Any sign taller than 3 feet must be 10 feet behind property lines while anything smaller can snuggle right up to the property line.

And size does matter: signs cannot surpass 36 square feet in area, or be taller than eight feet, or have moving parts...or be illuminated. Or, or, or... This differs from the larger advertising billboards, which fall under their own set of regulations.

But it's not just city officials who are removing signs -- reports of sign theft and vandalism are cropping up around the state. These stunts are pretty predictable, but since most perpetrators are not caught, it's hard to enforce punishment (also a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $500).

The Austin American-Statesman reports today that Austin police have fielded 29 reports of vandalized political signs from Aug. 1 through Tuesday, including 19 for Obama, five for McCain and five other signs.

So, if the thought of getting your "VOTE for (fill in blank)" sign stolen or spray-painted makes you cringe, I recommend investing in something a little larger, but be prepared to do some reading first. It'd be such a hassle to have your sign confiscated.

(Photo: the language of campaign signs. Photo by flickr user s myrland, used via the Creative Commons license.)