US Mother charged for telling girl to steal signs

A North Carolina woman faces criminal charges for allegedly telling her 13-year-old daughter to steal lawn signs opposing an amendment banning gay marriage. Heidi Thompson, 44, of West End in Moore County was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, WRAL.com reported. She admitted she took some signs Wednesday as she drove her daughter home from school, saying signs supporting the amendment have vanished from her lawn. \"I didn\'t feel like I was stealing signs at the time,\" she said. \"I just looked at it as picking up trash along the side of the road.\" Pinehurst (N.C.) Police Chief Earl Phipps said an eyewitness caught Thompson in the act. He said the charge has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with telling her daughter to remove legally placed signs. Thompson feels like politics are involved. \"I know it\'s making me look like a bad parent, but we\'ve taught that it\'s not right for men to be married to men and women to be married to women, so we stopped and picked them up,\" she said. \"Had I known it would be such a political issue, I wouldn\'t have done it.\" The marriage amendment is on the ballot in Tuesday\'s primary.