A villager in Preah Vihear province is claiming that a commune-level official from the Cambodian People’s Party demanded she remove a Sam Rainsy Party sign from her front yard, then entered the house and told her to burn a portrait of the self-exiled leader on display indoors.

After filing a complaint to rights group Adhoc, Peah Thuob, 20, told the Post yesterday she refused to get rid of the sign, but the order to burn the portrait spooked her so much she incinerated it in the oven.

The CPP official, Prum Khet, denied any involvement, though he did say he was in Phnom Tbeng II commune where Peah Thuob lives.

He told the Post yesterday that he was walking by the house and saw people playing a card game inside.

Standing outside, he asked the players who was winning.

“I did not go into the house, and I did not see the picture,” he said.

Peah Thuob said her family had never had a dispute with Prum Khet.

Lor Chan, a coordinator for Adhoc in Preah Vihear province, said he investigated the case on Wednesday after receiving a complaint.

He said the SRP’s signboard was not damaged or pulled out. But he did see ashes of a burned picture.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phak Seangly at [email protected]