The PSNI has offered personal security advice to Stormont Assembly election candidates following concerns over threats and intimidation.
It comes after a hoax bomb alert at an event attended by Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney last month during which a van was hijacked at gunpoint.
The UVF has been linked to the incident and other recent security alerts in Warrenpoint and on the Belfast to Dublin rail line.
Read more: SDLP Assembly candidate told he's 'not welcome' while putting up posters
A window was smashed at UUP leader Doug Beattie's constituency office in Portadown last week within hours of his decision to withdraw from contentious rallies against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
Some election candidates have also reported their posters being stolen or burnt down.
SDLP West Belfast candidate Paul Doherty has said he and his team were approached by a group of men in the Shankill area and told they "weren't welcome".
The PSNI said it has contacted political parties to offer briefing sessions on "crime prevention and personal safety" for candidates in May's Assembly election.
Chief Superintendent Muir Clark said: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to doing everything we can to ensure all candidates can participate fully in the forthcoming Northern Ireland Assembly election free from harassment, intimidation and other forms of criminality.
"We are investigating thoroughly the incidents which have been reported to us, including the removal and destruction of election posters.
"We have contacted the political parties to proactively offer briefing sessions and information for candidates on crime prevention and personal safety, and our officers will continue to offer support and advice throughout the campaign period at a local level.
"We encourage all our candidates to immediately report any concerns to police in order to keep themselves, their staff and members of the public safe."
Mr Coveney had to abandon a speech at a Hume Foundation event following the hoax bomb alert last month at the Houben Centre on Crumlin Road in North Belfast.
The security alert has been linked to loyalist opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Police believe there could be a risk of an escalation of loyalist protests against the Irish Sea trade border.
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph on Monday, Mr Coveney condemned the bomb alert as a "shameful echo of a darker time" and said it "advances the cause of no community".
During a visit to Derry on Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the incident and said he "didn't think twice" about subsequently coming to Northern Ireland.
"I will continue to meet everyone in a spirit of cooperation, and endeavouring to have greater harmony and progress," he told reporters.
"Democracy must always triumph, we will always take advice from the PSNI and An Garda Siochana, and societies must have the freedom to engage, to discuss, and to reflect."
Read more: SDLP Assembly candidate told he's 'not welcome' while putting up posters
Read more: UUP constituency office targeted overnight
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