At least 16 political signs stolen from across Warren turned up in Barrington Monday morning.

Barrington resident Matt Amaral woke up to find the signs planted carefully on his front lawn. They advertise the candidacies of Brandt Heckert and Steve Thompson, Democrats who are running for Warren Town Council and will face a primary election early next month. Also stolen were more than a dozen other signs for Rhode Island gubernatorial candidates  Clay Pell and Gina Raimondo, as well as two non-political signs advertising a fund-raiser at Burrs Hill Park this past weekend.

Mr. Heckert, who filed a police report Monday after noticing the signs missing, said around 1:30 p.m. that he planned to go to Barrington that afternoon to retrieve them. He and Mr. Thompson noticed them missing Monday morning from private properties on Wheaton, Water and State streets. Others planted over the weekend at the corner of Metacom and Franklin Street were reportedly run over, Mr. Thompson said.

“We had volunteers helping, so it’s really frustrating,” he said.

Mr. Amaral said that initially he thought "bored" friends of his son were responsible. But he spoke to his son and his friends, and is satisfied that they probably weren't involved. He filed a police report Monday afternoon.

"This is vandalism and trespassing," he said. "And I don't like the thought of people on our property when we're asleep."

Mr. Heckert and Mr. Thompson are running for Warren Town Council, and will square off against other Democrats at the primary election early next month. Other Democratic candidates for the five-seat council include Mark Aubin, John Bento, David Frerichs, Richard Silva and Catherine Tattrie.