Rep. Tom Perriello’s Charlottesville, Va., office was vandalized last night — and the vandal posted a sign for the Democrat's opponent, Republican Robert Hurt, outside the building.



The office was unoccupied early in the morning, between the hours of 2 a.m. and about 5:30 a.m., Perriello spokeswoman Jessica Barba told POLITICO. The intruder bent a screen and stole a box of door hangers that had been prepared for volunteers, who were to leave them for voters to direct them to the correct polling place.



University of Virginia students received fliers on their doors, pointing them to the wrong polling place, and the incident has been reported to police.



Perriello has a small volunteer army working to help him beat Hurt, in large part because he’s a progressive favorite who has voted with the party on all of its major legislative initiatives.

The Hurt campaign claims that Perriello employees are responsible, and that the break-in is a last-ditch attempt for publicity.

"Apparently, Perriello supporters are so desperate for sympathy that they staged a mock break in by drama students from UVA looking for extra credit,” Chris LaCivita, a Hurt campaign strategist, told POLITICO in an e-mailed statement.

The photo, provided as evidence to police, shows the bent screen.