The NDP candidate running against Conservative Stephen Harper in the riding of Calgary Heritage says his signs are not only being vandalized during this campaign — they're being stolen.

Matt Masters Burgener, NDP candidate in Calgary Heritage, says stealing campaign signs silences voters' voices. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

"They're silencing the voice of Canadians," said Matt Masters Burgener in the southwest community of Evergreen.

That's where 25 of his NDP campaign signs have disappeared this week, at a cost of $5 to $10 each.

"To lose 25 of them, that sucks, but at the same time, it's not just our sign costs. The reality is the unique thing about this sign campaign is it gives Canadians and Calgarians a voice, a chance to give their opinion to Mr. Harper," he said.

Individuals who contributed $50 to Burgener's campaign could write a message up to 50 characters in length, on a white campaign-style sign as long as appropriate language was used.

They were then placed near a Harper election sign.

"So when someone steals those signs, they're not just stealing money out of our campaign's pocket, they're stealing the voice."

Burgener believes the tailor-made messages struck a chord.

"It says to me that there's somebody out there who doesn't like the fact that we're sending a message to Mr. Harper and I think that says that our campaign is effective and that our campaign is connecting with voters," he said.

Vandals have damaged Harper signs as well, Burgener says.

There has been no word on whether Liberal candidate Brendan Miles and Kelly Christie of the Green Party are facing the same sign problems in the riding.

​Laura Weston, the NDP candidate for Calgary-Midnapore, says her signs are also being stolen. She is running against Conservative candidate Jason Kenney, Brennan Wauters from the Green Party and Liberal Haley Brown.