Authorities with the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the late-night burning of a 4x6’ political sign outside of the residence of a grandmother to Republican Faulkner County Sheriff’s candidate Maj. Andy Shock.

According to the report, Dep. Howard Hall was dispatched to the home, located on Otto Road, around 9:30 p.m. Thursday after it was discovered that an unknown person had stolen a Johnny Brady sign from the 82-year-old woman’s yard and set fire to another sign bearing Shock’s name, burning the grass surrounding it.

Hall reportedly made contact with a juvenile male at the residence, who told him he noticed the sign was on fire while driving back to his home.

The boy also said that he observed a gold, 4-door extended cab pickup truck parked in the yard next to the sign.

The truck reportedly left the scene before anyone could make contact with the driver and the sign self-extinguished.

According to the report, the elderly homeowner “seemed very scared” about someone setting a fire in her yard.

The woman said she called Shock, who was campaigning throughout the evening at the Faulkner County Fair, on his cell phone once she was notified of what had happened outside of her home.

“I’ve been in law enforcement a long time,” Shock said. “I can handle things like this. People are going to steal and vandalize signs and that’s to be expected — but what is 1000 percent unacceptable and heinous is when someone can enter the property of an 82-year-old woman, who is doing nothing but showing support for her grandson-in-law, and do something like this.”

Shock said he was “very pleased and impressed” by the professionalism of the deputy who responded to the scene and offered to provide his grandmother extra patrol throughout the night.

“The victim here is not my campaign, it is this sweet, angel of an 82-year-old woman,” Shock said. “If the person responsible for this is caught, I will absolutely prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Democratic opponent Tommy Earnhart took to Facebook calling the act appalling.

“It horrifies me that anyone felt it was OK to do this,” Earnhart wrote.

The signs were valued at $65.

(Megan Reynolds is a staff writer and can be reached at 505-1277 or by e-mail at megan.reynolds@thecabin.net. To comment on this story and others, visit www.thecabin.net.)