Thieves caught on camera snatching Donald Trump signs

Donald Trump may not be ahead in the polls, but he sure seems to be leading when it comes to stolen yard signs.

The thefts, often caught on surveillance cameras -- tend to be drive-by-style heists, with someone driving up, grabbing the signs and jumping in a getaway car.

However, another theft involved a runner in Hillsdale, New Jersey, running by a home and then returning to pick up the sign and take off. When the video went public, she turned herself in, but the sign owner declined to press charges.

In Staten Island, another man's display -- a giant "T" in support of "Trump" -- was set on fire in the middle of the night. The man rebuilt the display.

A house in Indianapolis lost a reported dozen Trump signs in three weeks.

Very few signs for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton were reported stolen. Either her supporters aren't posting them, they're not reporting the thefts, or they're being left alone.

In Haverhill, Massachusetts, one of Richard Early's signs was spray painted "never" over Trump. He had nine signs ripped out and tossed in the street.

Early said, "We're not gonna take em down, the signs are staying up."

Some bipartisan tips for protecting your yard signs: a Pennsylvania man slathers roofing tar on the edges -- hard to get off and easy to spread to clothing and car. Another person "went and bought a giant jar of Vicks vapor rub and smeared it over every inch of the sign."

When "Hillary for prison" signs disappeared out in the Hamptons, the owner reinstalled them on 12-feet-high poles, with surveillance cameras and electric fencing.

Watch CNN's Jeanne Moos' full report in the player above.