Allegations of possible recall-related crimes are increasing as the effort to collect signatures to recall the governor enters its second week.

The Madison Police Department has received multiple reports about recall petition-related crimes since the effort began including an alleged assault, the removal of a campaign sign and petition destruction.

Before the Wisconsin-Penn State football game Saturday, a woman on Monroe Street collecting petition signatures to recall Gov. Scott Walker contacted Madison Police Department claiming she was assaulted, said MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain.

According to DeSpain, the woman said the man assaulted her by pushing her clipboard into her stomach in what she called a “politically motivated act.” The man denied it and said he bumped into her accidentally due to congestion in the area.

After reviewing the case, the officer decided he did not have sufficient evidence to arrest the man, prompting the woman to accuse the officer of siding with Walker, DeSpain said.

Additionally, a 70-year-old Madison resident reported Monday afternoon that someone had stolen her “Recall Scott Walker” sign, DeSpain said.

If a person steals a campaign sign, they would be charged with theft, DeSpain said. However, if a person stole a sign and damaged it, they would be charged for theft and criminal destruction of property.

The MPD also received a report Monday of a student at Edgewood College ripping up a recall petition with signatures on it, DeSpain said.

Another student at Edgewood College was collecting signatures on Nov. 15 when he handed the petition to a student who he thought wanted to sign it, DeSpain said. Instead, the student ripped it in two and walked away.

The student reported the incident to the school’s authorities and later to the police when he felt the school was not taking proper action to address the situation, DeSpain said.

The detective in charge of the case has identified the person who destroyed the petition, DeSpain said.

On Nov. 17, a man in a red pickup truck ripped up a petition when petitioners handed it to him, DeSpain said. The detective working on the case located the driver of the pickup truck and passed the information to the district attorney.

Not only have recall groups alleged possible law-breaking on behalf of people opposing the recall, but the Republican Party claims to have received reports of recall petitioners breaking the law.

“The recall effort is nothing more than a baseless partisan power-grab being pushed on Wisconsin families by liberal special interests, and the process itself has been overrun with repeated instances of misconduct and fraud,” GOP spokesperson Ben Sparks said in a statement.

The GOP has received multiple reports of voter fraud and misconduct involving the use of government resources and online communications disclosing recall effort documents which constitutes potential petition fraud on the part of Wisconsin Democrats, Sparks said.

Voter fraud and recall petition destruction are felonies, said Government Accountability Board spokesperson Reid Magney. The maximum penalty is three and a half years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

If the GAB receives evidence demonstrating petition fraud or petition destruction, it would pass the information on to district attorney, who would decide whether to press charges, Magney said.