Woman caught on camera taking ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign from yard in south Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — A person was caught on a doorbell camera taking a “Black Lives Matter” sign from a front yard in the Starmount neighborhood.

The homeowner filed a report with police once they discovered the sign missing.

Melanie Larkey was inside her home at the time, but said she didn’t hear or see anything. She only knew what had happened when she saw the doorbell footage.

“Surprised and unsettled are going to be the two words I’m going to use,” Larkey said.

The video was taken Friday just after 1:30 p.m. A woman can be seen walking across the grass of the home. She then waves at the camera and heads straight toward the yellow “Black Lives Matter” sign.

She then pulls it out of the ground, waves the sign in the air, and gets in the passenger side of a black sedan.

“It was really unnerving. Her abrasiveness and walking into my yard and stealing something that didn’t belong to her,” Larkey said. “Then she either waved at the camera and then made some distasteful remarks when she got back to the car she was in.”

Larkey said she is shocked someone had the audacity to walk on her property and take the sign, feet away from her front door. She calls it an educational opportunity for the Charlotte community.

“I can’t figure out what it is about my sign that says ‘Black Lives Matter’ is so upsetting to other people. It has shown me, and a lot of the neighbors have mentioned it too, that we need a discussion about race,” she said.

Larkey said she often sees the black car in the neighborhood, but doesn’t recognize the woman.

She told Channel 9 that she bought a replacement sign from a Black-owned online business.

“Race and racial discussions in this country shouldn’t be provocative. They should be out in the open. People should be able to have a discussion about it,” Larkey said.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report lists the case as an active investigation.

Return to this story for updates.

(WATCH BELOW: Police: Man shot 3 people he thought were stealing campaign signs)

Police: Man shot 3 people he thought were stealing campaign signs (NCD)

©2022 Cox Media Group