The vehicle was parked along the curb near an election sign the Heuers had in their front yard for Red Deer-South NDP candidate Barb Miller. The sign had been pulled out of the ground, damaged and tossed into some nearby bushes.

“It’s just sad,” Dirk said. “We are a democratic society and everybody has individual opinions on things, but we should be able to have peaceful discussions.”

(rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

The Heuers have two children, ages 9 and 11, who Dirk says were shocked and saddened by the incident.

“I have never been part of any political discussions in the public. So I am really surprised that we got hit,” he added. “To use this as a tool to impact people and to silence them or impact their behaviour, this is just disgusting and I’m really upset.”

The Heuers reported the incident to Red Deer RCMP, but since there is no video footage of the incident no charges are expected. Dirk says he visited Miller’s campaign office to let them know about what happened.

“They were shocked and said Sunnybrook has been a target,” he noted. “Almost all of the NDP signs are gone (in Sunnybrook) we realized this morning, Kerstin and myself. There was just UCP signs.”

A Red Deer RCMP spokesperson says the call from the Heuers was the only report they received of overnight vandalism in Sunnybrook.

“We have been running this campaign with a focus on positivity. Both myself as the NDP candidate for Red Deer-South and our leader Rachel Notley are more concerned with promoting optimism and inclusion,” Miller said in a statement. “I will always fight so that people are free to participate in the democratic process and to express their political views. I denounce the vandalism and intimidation that we witnessed today, and I call on all other candidates to do the same.”

Election signs throughout Red Deer have been hit by vandals since the writ was dropped for the April 16 election, but this is the first known report of election-related vandalism to a vehicle.

“This is not the community that we know,” Kerstin said. “We came here 15 years ago and have never had anything bad happen to us.”

Kerstin joked that they will wait until after the April 16 provincial election to ensure they only have to repair their vehicle once.