Election vandalism targets top Tory Alan Duncan
This general election has already shown its uglier side. Alan Duncan tells me that up to one hundred of his election posters and signs in his Melton and Rutland constituency have been vandalised.
The posters were ripped apart or defaced with particularly abusive graffiti. What's unclear at this stage is whether the incident is mindless juvenile behaviour or deliberately politically motivated.
I'm going to raise this with the Returning Officer and the police. I'm also urging my political rivals in this election to condemn the vandalism," he told me.Mr Duncan is defending one of the safest Conservative seats in England. But his outspoken comments and appearances on TV's "Have I Got News for You" have given this top Tory a high national profile.
He made headlines at the height of the expenses crisis when he told a constituent that MPs would end up having "to live on rations". Mr Duncan may have been jesting, but it backfired. He was being secretly recorded at the time.
The election posters will be back in place very soon. As for the culprits, he described them as " poor, sad people".
Hello. My name is John Hess. I'm the BBC's Political Editor for the East Midlands and this blog will offer my musings on the political scene from Westminster to closer to home. 
