After a rash of "Yes on 8" signs disappeared in a neighborhood an even bigger one appeared Sunday in front of a San Jose family home.
Bob and Michele Sundstrom are active members of the "Yes on 8" campaign, which seeks to ban gay marriage.
They and a number of their neighbors had small "Yes on 8" signs in their yards that have been stolen, Michele Sundstrom said Tuesday.
So they decided to put up a banner over their garage.
While Bob and the couple's five children, a 15-year-old, three 11-year-old triplets, and a 10-year-old, were outside decorating for Halloween, Michele says an SUV pulled up and parked in front of their home.
A female couple in their 30s, whom the Sundstrom's do not know, got out and began painting the vehicle.
On one side they painted the words "Bigots live here," and on the other side they wrote, "God hates haters," Michele Sundstrom said.
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Bob approached the couple and according to his wife, he said to them, "Apparently you have something to say to us."
After a 15-minute conversation the couple left, during which time Michele says the couple told them that they were lesbians who were married.
Police told the Sundstroms that the vehicle couldn't be towed or ticketed until it has been in the same spot for 72 hours.
"(Today) at 2:30 we can have it towed," Michele says.
They have no intention of prosecuting and are not interested in pursuing any retaliation, nor do they want to know whom the SUV belongs to, Michele says.
"We're just telling people to leave it alone," Michele says.
Mostly she says they were concerned about their children's perception of the incident.
"We've done a lot of precinct walking and even when people disagreed with us they were civilized," she says. "This is an absolute aberration. We told (our children) this (action) isn't normal."
One of their triplets, an 11-year-old son, wanted the couple to know that the family harbors no malice toward gays or lesbians.
"He told them, 'We don't hate anybody. We just want to protect families,'" Michele says.
Before the car painting, Michele says neighbors read on a social networking Web site that there were threats to spray-paint their home, but that did not occur, she said.
