IT TAKES plenty of chutzpah for some politicians to think they can win an election by breaking the law. Offenders include Oz Bengur, who is running for Congress, and City Councilwoman Lisa Stancil, who wants to become Baltimore's top prosecutor.

Over the weekend, Mr. Bengur's campaign workers littered the vicinity of Towson Town Center with illegal lawn signs. Ms. Stancil's workers were busy, too. They plastered signs unlawfully on vacant houses and public property throughout the city.

Both campaigns are orchestrated by Julius Henson, an experienced, bare-knuckled political consultant. He knows that under zoning laws, these signs are illegal. But, he argues, they are no different from countless illegal nonpolitical lawn signs around the city.

Although the Sept. 10 primary election season is not in full swing, illegal signs are already a problem. Last week, warning candidates of penalties, the city announced it would start removing such signs from publicly owned property and median strips. But the city's $25 maximum fine for each incident is a weak deterrent. It clearly needs to be increased.

Baltimore County's $200-a-day fine is more realistic, though enforcement is a problem.

Especially in the city, campaigners know they are operating in a gray area. Only formal candidates -- the filing deadlines are in early July -- are required to sign a pledge to honor sign rules. And because they are seldom taken to task, even official candidates erect signs illegally.

The results are easy to see. Some three years after the city's mayoral election, plenty of placards remain fixed on vacant houses, this despite a city ordinance requiring that legal signs be removed within 30 days after an election. (In the county, the removal must occur within seven days.)

The authorities should stamp out this visual pollution. Since each illegally posted sign, by law, includes the treasurer's name, that person should be held responsible. The time for a crackdown is during the campaign season, not years afterward.