After months of campaigning, all three have learned that nothing is sacred in politics — not even a cop's campaign signs.

At first glance, the steps David Atlas has taken to protect the "Trump" signs in the front yard of his home might seem excessive.

The signs are 10 feet in the air, on boards attached to thick posts embedded in concrete. Those posts are corralled by fence posts and wire. Barbed wire.

But Atlas, who has a law degree from Harvard University, said the unusual display at the corner of Harvard and Stanford avenues (yes, the address is a coincidence) is a response to the repeated thefts of yard signs supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

"I decided that I was either going to be intimidated, or I was going to exercise my First Amendment rights," Atlas explained last week during an interview at his dining room table.

The theft or defacing of campaign signs during election years is not unusual, and this year is no exception. Three of the candidates for the hotly contested race for Volusia County sheriff — Dave Brannon, Mike Chitwood and Eric Dietrich — have all reported losing signs this season.

The three candidates have had their campaign signs pounded on and pillaged — not to mention chopped up and sliced down the middle — all over the county.

Chitwood's campaign manager Janelle Homan said her candidate has already lost between 40 and 50 small yard signs and at least six of the larger 8-by-4-foot signs. The signs, Homan said, have been defaced or stolen from private properties.

"I always believe that the person who has the best ideas is the person who's going to win," Chitwood said. "I didn't expect sign wars."

Dietrich and Brannon both also reported having signs stolen or defaced. Both added that they've specifically told their volunteers not to mess with other candidates' signs.

"I don’t condone any of my volunteers destroying any other candidates' signs and I am confident that none of my volunteers are doing that," Dietrich said.

Brannon said if he learned that one of his volunteers or supporters was doing something like that, "I would personally see to their prosecution."

But Trump signs seem to be a favorite for thieves and vandals. Volusia County Republican Party Chair Tony Ledbetter said he has received reports of stolen or destroyed signs from more than 200 people.

Atlas can attest. He had never been an active supporter of anyone's campaign before, but said he prefers Trump over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. So a couple of months ago, he put up a single Trump sign in his yard.

Within a week, it was stolen. Then he put up three Trump signs. They were stolen, too. Atlas reported the thefts to Ormond Beach police, and the officer who visited his home lamented that he'd had his own Trump sign stolen as well.

"At that point, it was a matter of principle," said Atlas, who has represented a number of big names in motorsports, including NASCAR team owner Roger Penske and Indy 500 driver Emerson Fittipaldi.

Atlas hired a contractor, who poured concrete footings in his yard, then set long posts in them. An even dozen Trump signs were placed on plywood boards at the top of the posts. "No trespassing" signs were placed on the bottom of the posts. The project cost him about $2,000.

"I made it clear," Atlas said. "Then someone came up and spray-painted the no-trespassing signs."

So, last week, Atlas installed the fence posts and barbed-wire around the taller posts and signs. That has stopped the thefts and vandalism. For now.

"I just think it's pitiful that people can't agree to disagree agreeably," Atlas said. "Not one atom in my body would be possessed to take down one of their signs."

Leslie Pearce, chair of the Volusia Democratic Committee, said local candidates have historically lost signs to theft or vandalism.

"This is a game that gets played all the time and it's too bad because those signs are not cheap," Pearce said. "I expect things are going to get worse (in all the political races) in August because that's the primary."

Dietrich said he was warned from the beginning that vandalized campaign signs are par for the course in political races. He said he has had signs stolen or defaced in New Smyrna Beach and on John Anderson Drive in Ormond Beach.

"I had eight to 10 magnets stolen off of cars in Daytona Beach and Port Orange," Dietrich said. "I had a window wrap on a car window broken in Daytona Beach on City Island."

No candidates in either Volusia or Flagler counties have filed reports with police.

Dietrich's campaign manager, Mike Scudiero, said the destruction of political signs are part of the deal.

"It's going to happen, it's as old as campaigning itself," said Scudiero, who has been running political campaigns for more than a decade. "I'm sure that all the candidates in this race have implored their supporters not to do that. But it happens every campaign."