Both sides of the high-publicized Congressional race in Minnesota’s Third District are responding to allegations of stolen yard signs.

In a video shot and quickly posted on YouTube, a dark figure was caught stealing signs for the Erik Paulsen campaign near a Perkins restaurant in Maple Grove.“I’m a private citizen and they’re within the public right of way,” the woman in the video says. Another person in the video points out the sign stealer has an Ashwin Madia bumper sticker.

“I also happen to be a Madia volunteer,” she says.A check of a license plate reveals she’s married to Dan Pollock -- Ashwin Madia’s communications director and spokesperson.The metal signs for the Paulsen campaign are still on the public median, along with all the other signs that shouldn’t be there either.

The man behind the camera on the YouTube video is a campaign consultant for Paulsen, who says he happened to be grabbing a bite to eat at Perkins. He also runs the blog Minnesota Democrats Exposed, and in this case, it appears he did just that."It's clearly a Madia campaign who attempted to steal our signs and take them away,” Stacy Johnson, from the Paulsen campaign, said.

The Madia campaign released a statement on the incident:"Since learning of this, we have reminded all staff and volunteers… to not touch Paulsen campaign lawn signs … regardless of where they are placed. We apologize to the Paulsen campaign for our volunteer's mistake." 

The Republican Party of Minnesota also released a statement, asking Ashwin Madia to discuss the woman in the video’s role with the campaign.Maple Grove police say they’ve had other reports of stolen lawn signs. In this case, it isn’t considered theft because the sings were returned.