As a veteran of one previous election and a supporter in many, Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz knows that campaign signs tend to vanish.

But Mutz found it unusual when he began hearing that dozens of his campaign signs had disappeared overnight Sunday from yards and business properties in several neighborhoods.

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“These things happen,” Mutz said. “It was just unusual that it all happened in one night.”

Unusual enough that Mutz said he filed a report with the Lakeland Police Department. He said that someone or a group of people swiped at least 50 of the signs starting around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Mutz, seeking a second four-year term, is facing a challenge from political newcomer Saga Stevin in the nonpartisan race. Election Day is Nov. 2, and voting by mail has already begun.

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Mutz did not accuse Stevin of involvement in the mass theft of planted campaign signs, saying “zealous supporters” of the challenger could have been responsible. Mutz said he happened to see Stevin as he rode his bike on Sunday, and when he told her about the stolen signs she seemed genuinely surprised.

Stevin denied any role in the pilfering of signs. She said signs promoting her candidacy have also been stolen since the beginning of the campaign.

Some of the sign thefts occurred at homes equipped with home-security cameras. Mutz said one supporter shared video recorded during the incident, and it showed someone he described as “college aged.” But he said the video was too grainy to make identification possible.

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The Lakeland Police Department had not released details about its report on the complaints as of Tuesday morning.

Stevin confirmed talking to Mutz on Sunday and said she found it “curious” that the mayor estimated the number of signs taken from yards and businesses.

“How did he know how many were stolen?” she said. “I don't know. Is he part of it?”

Told of Stevin’s suggestion, Mutz laughed heartily and said, “Oh, that’s funny.”

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Mutz said the signs were stolen from homes and businesses around Lake Morton, in the South Lake Morton Historic District, around Lake Hollingsworth and along Edgewood Drive and Cleveland Heights Boulevard. He said many supporters also had signs for candidates in the two City Commission races, and those were left alone.

Mutz said his campaign has provided replacement signs for some who requested them.

“But you don’t order signs to replace signs,” he said. “We’re down to the end of signs. That’s all right. It’s voters that elect you, not signs. We want to be aware of that and finish well.”

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Stevin offered her own complaints about campaign signs. She gave examples of what she said were Mutz supporters planting signs that obscured hers, placing signs on private property without permission and putting them on city property in violation of ordinances.

Stevin said she raised the issue with Mutz when the pair appeared together at a Rotary Club meeting in early October. She said she suggested making a joint announcement urging supporters not to bother signs of other candidates.

“And what he said to me was, ‘Oh, Saga, that just happens,’” she said. “‘Signs, you know, they get stolen. So, no, I'm not going to do that with you.’”

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Mutz denied that such an exchange occurred.

“She never asked me about that at Rotary at all,” he said. “I certainly do not recall that conversation.”

The thefts quickly became a subject of discussion on social media. Bruce Anderson, a political science professor at Florida Southern College and a Ledger columnist, reported having a Mutz sign stolen from his yard in the South Lake Morton Historic District.

In a Facebook comment, Anderson called on Stevin to publicly denounce the sign thefts. Stevin, in turn, questioned whether Anderson might actually have been involved in the sign swiping.

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Anderson told The Ledger that he does not suspect Stevin or her campaign of stealing campaign signs.

Anderson is scheduled to moderate a final candidate forum on Friday, sponsored by the Republican Club of Lakeland and the Libertarian Party of Polk County. Stevin said she didn’t think it was fair for Anderson, who has expressed support for Mutz in the race, to serve as moderator.

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James Ring, president of the Republican Club of Lakeland, said Monday that Stevin had not complained to him about Anderson’s role. Ring, who publicly supports Mutz for mayor, said he would be willing to use a substitute moderator for the mayoral forum if requested.

The candidates in the two City Commission races are also scheduled to participate, Ring said. A committee will review questions submitted in advance and choose which to pose to the candidates, he said.

The forum begins at 5:30 p.m. at The Heights at Cleveland Heights Golf Course.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.