How To Take Off Street Signs

Illegal removal of street signs

A sticker on the back of this Illinois street sign is intended to deter theft.

Street sign theft occurs when street signs are stolen, to be used as decorations, sold as scrap metal or to avoid obeying the law by challenge later the sign was non in that location.^{[ commendation needed ]} Although the theft frequently seems arbitrary, signs with unusual or agreeable names tend to exist stolen more frequently. Sometimes considered to exist a prank by the perpetrators, the theft is often costly and inconvenient (and tin can possibly exist dangerous) for the municipality or agency that owns the sign. In the United states of america, each street sign generally costs between $100 and $500 to supervene upon.^{[one] [2]}

In law [edit]

In most jurisdictions, the theft of traffic signage is treated like any other theft with respect to prosecution and sentencing. If, nonetheless, the theft leads to an injury, and then the thieves may be constitute criminally liable for the injury too, provided that an injury of that sort was a foreseeable event of such a theft. In one notable United States case, three people were found guilty of manslaughter for stealing a cease sign and thereby causing a deadly standoff.^{[3] [iv] [five]} This was publicized in the novel Driver'south Ed past Caroline B. Cooney.

Prevention [edit]

The residents of Shitterton, a small-scale village in Dorset, England, collectively purchased this large stone sign to deter frequent theft.

A view up Penny Lane from the Halls of Residence

Some jurisdictions place stickers on street signs warning of the legal penalty for their theft. Some cities (e.yard. Toronto) use particularly designed bolts to attach signs and prevent removal. With some of the more popular street names such as Liverpool'south famous "Penny Lane", authorities gave up the exercise of constantly replacing signs and just resorted to painting the name of the street on the walls. Other jurisdictions offering replica street signs for sale to discourage theft. For route markers or mile markers that comprise numbers with suggestive meanings, such as 69, 420, or 666, the number may be changed to avoid sign theft.^[six]

Examples [edit]

Austria [edit]

• After frequent thefts of its welcome sign at the town boundary, the Austrian village of Fucking installed theft-resistant signs in 2005.^[seven] The boondocks inverse its name to Fugging in 2020.^[8]

Canada [edit]

• Ragged Ass Road in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada saw such frequent sign thefts that the city welded the sign to the post and began to sell replica street signs.^[9]
• De Grassi Street has seen multiple sign thefts over the years because of its connexion to the Degrassi teen television franchise.^[ten] According to the Earth and Mail, twelve signs were stolen in 2000 lonely.^[11]

Democracy of Ireland [edit]

• Signs are frequently stolen in Republic of ireland for decorating the walls of Irish pubs effectually the world:^[12] places in Canton Kerry and sites associated with Michael Collins (such every bit Béal na Bláth or Clonakilty) are especially popular.^{[thirteen] [fourteen] [15] [sixteen]}

Germany [edit]

• Due to the heavy metal festival that is named after the identify, the minor village of Wacken in Northern Germany had to deal with street sign theft.^[17]

The netherlands [edit]

Signs prohibiting public consumption of cannabis in Amsterdam were frequent targets of theft.

• All the signs of the Dutch hamlet Maaskantje were stolen since the New Kids one-act sketch show on One-act Central (which is situated in the village) became popular (in holland, Belgium and Frg). The municipality of Maaskantje decided non to replace the stolen signs.^[18]
• In Amsterdam, signs prohibiting the consumption of cannabis were a frequent target of theft, prompting the city to offer replicas of the sign for sale.^[nineteen]

Spain [edit]

• Leganés, Spain dedicated some streets to stone groups like AC/DC, Scorpions, Iron Maiden and Rosendo. The Ac/DC sign was stolen days afterwards inauguration. Leganés authorities at present offering identical signs for auction.^[20]

Sweden [edit]

Swedish moose alert sign

• Sweden's distinctive warning sign for moose is noted for its tendency to exist stolen, traditionally by German tourists.^{[21] [22]}
• The sign "Grovare 6", pointing to the small-scale village Grovare in Sweden, 6 km from the sign, was often stolen. "Grovare" ways "rougher" in Swedish with slightly wrong grammer, and the number 6 is spelt "sex activity". The new sign says "Grovare 5", fifty-fifty though it is still 6 km.^[23]

United Kingdom [edit]

• The signs on Abbey Road in London, England were oftentimes stolen by Beatles fans until the city council mounted them on buildings.^{[ citation needed ]}
• Street signs on Butt Hole Road in England were stolen over time, because of the utilize of butt hole as a slang term for "anus".^[24] The street was eventually renamed Archers Way in 2009.^[25]
• The hamlet of Shitterton in the United Kingdom saw its welcome sign stolen so ofttimes that in 2007 the local quango stopped replacing it. The hamlet'due south residents eventually contributed funds to buy a one-and-a-half-tonne stone slab with the town'southward name engraved on it as a permanent replacement.^[26]

Us [edit]

• The sign for South Park Street in Lawrence, Kansas has been stolen on several occasions, prompting the city to install theft-proof bolts on the sign.^{[ citation needed ]}
• In 1988, Denver, Colorado began selling replica Corona Street signs after noting the signs were stolen by fans of the beer.^[27]
• Brickyard Road, Lakeside, Florida. Fans repeatedly stole the road sign considering Lynyrd Skynyrd pb vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was living at that place before his death in 1977 and his brother, Johnny Van Zant, released an album and single called Brickyard Route in 1990. The county eventually erected a concrete colonnade with the street name painted on it, every bit opposed to a traditional route sign.
• State, provincial or federal highways in many countries may face up sign theft issues if their road number has popular culture connotations. Numbers particularly decumbent to theft include 69 because of its utilize every bit a slang term for simultaneous oral sex, 420 because of its connection to marijuana culture, and 666 because of its clan with the Biblical Number of the Fauna. Four highways numbered 69 in the United states have been renumbered due to sign theft: Route 69 in New Jersey was renumbered to Route 31 in 1967, State Road 69 in Ohio was renumbered to Ohio Land Route 235 in 1968, Country Highway 69 in Texas was renumbered to State Highway 112 in 1992, and State Road 69 in Utah was renumbered to State Route 38 in 1994. In addition, officials in Oregon had originally planned to assign the Route 69 designation to the Beltline Highway in Eugene in 2002 but later chose to assign Oregon Route 569 to the route instead. However, Interstate 69 and U.s.-69 accept not been altered.^{[28] [ failed verification ] [29] [30] [31]} Sign theft was also a factor that led to the renumbering of U.S. Route 666 to U.South. Route 491 in 2003, with a majority of the US 666 signs stolen following the announcement of the renumbering.^[32] In addition, County Route 666 in Morris County, New Jersey was renumbered to County Route 665 due to sign theft.^[6]
• Signs for mile marking 66.half dozen on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway were oftentimes stolen due to the Satanic associations with the number 666, prompting officials to consider changing the mile marker to 66.61.^[six]
• Signs for mile marking 420 along Interstate 70 in Colorado were often stolen due to the marijuana reference, leading the Colorado Section of Transportation to modify the mile marker to 419.99.^[33] The states of Washington, Idaho, and Florida have also since begun implementing the aforementioned solution in response to incidents of "mile 420" sign theft. Idaho replaced mile marker 420 along U.Due south. Road 95 with 419.9,^[34] which is also now used on Interstate 75 in Florida.^[35]
• Richard Bong State Recreation Area, a state park in Wisconsin, also suffers from sign theft due to the association of the discussion "bell" with marijuana civilization.^[36]
• U.South. Road 66 in the U.s.a., the subject field of a famous 1940s pop song, also sees frequent sign theft – signs are and so often stolen that in some places information technology can exist difficult to navigate without knowing the road; furthermore, US 66 signage has not been maintained since the route was decommissioned from the U.S. Highway System in 1985.^[37] Instead, some localities rely on route shield pavement markings, which cannot exist stolen, to indicate the path of the historic road.
• Often in the United States and Canada, the sign for streets called "Loftier St." are stolen, also for its connection to marijuana culture. In an episode of the Telly series That '70s Show, several of the characters endeavor to steal a High St. sign to requite to Steven Hyde for his birthday. This is less common in the United Kingdom, as the term "Loftier Street" is a general term for a town's main shopping district, equivalent to Main Street in North America.^{[ commendation needed ]}
• In the southernmost urbanized portion of Anchorage, Alaska, near the Seward Highway, a neighborhood street was called Jackass Lane. The sign at its intersection with Huffman Road, a major thoroughfare in Anchorage, was stolen so oftentimes during the 1970s and 1980s that the city government renamed the street to Silvery Fox Lane.^{[ citation needed ]}
• Signs leading to Bolinas, California were frequently stolen or wrongly placed by its reclusive residents every bit a means to make it hard for tourists to locate the beachside town.^[38]
• The entry sign in Intercourse, Pennsylvania has been stolen or vandalized on more than one occasion.^{[ citation needed ]}
• In the early 1990s, during the popularity of the moving-picture show Batman Returns, many signs that said "Bat Cave Burn District" were stolen around the town of Bat Cave, North Carolina. So many signs were taken that the local volunteer fire department stopped putting them support.^[39]
• The sign for Blueish Jay Way is said to exist the nigh-stolen street sign in Los Angeles, because of its association with the Beatles song written by George Harrison. The city somewhen gave upwards on a metal sign and painted the street's proper noun on the curb.^{[40] [41]}
• Near street signs in West Hartford, Connecticut are mounted on low signposts; the sign for Stoner Drive, however, is mounted loftier on a utility pole behind a guardrail.^{[ citation needed ]}
• Climax^[17] and Hell, Michigan see frequent street thefts due to their names.^{[ citation needed ]}
• Reassurance markers for highway M-22 in Michigan. The highway is nationally popular for its scenery, taking drivers around the Leelanau Peninsula and eastern shore of Lake Michigan. It also runs along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, named the "Almost Beautiful Place in America" by ABC News.^[42] A local kiteboarding visitor besides released a line of merchandise with the highway marking on it, branding them as "M-22". Signs along M-22 accept been repeatedly stolen since 2003. The Michigan Department of Transportation has replaced stolen signs without the letter of the alphabet "M" on it.^[43]
• To discourage frequent theft of signs for Harry Baals Drive in Fort Wayne, Indiana, replacement signs at present read "H. W. Baals Dr". In 2011, civic leaders also rejected a popular proposal to name a new government edifice after the former mayor.^[44]
• BJ Road in Derrick Metropolis, Pennsylvania was stolen in a June 2021 incident, presumably for the similarity to the abridgement for a blowjob.^[45]

Run into also [edit]

• Manhole cover theft
• Street name controversy
• Traffic cone

References [edit]

1. ^ Church, Zach (July 29, 2007). "The cost of Vandalism: Time, frustration and cash". Eagle-Tribune. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012.
2. ^ Moeur, Richard C. "Transmission of Traffic Signs".
3. ^ "Defendants get 15-year Prison Sentences for cease-sign killings". CNN. June 20, 1997. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
4. ^ "Terminate-sign grouping challenges sentence". St. Petersburg Times. March 24, 2001.
5. ^ Baillie, Cole, and Miller were sentenced to between 27 and 46 years in prison, but would go costless after simply five years after a judge ordered a retrial because the prosecutor had overemphasized certain evidence in her endmost arguments. The prosecution declined to bring the case a second time.[1] Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine [2]
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Thefts of '666' road sign bedeviling N.J. officials". NBC News. Associated Press. September 29, 2008. Retrieved Dec 23, 2013.
7. ^ "What's the F-ing joke?". Theage.com.au. September 3, 2005. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
8. ^ Dallison, Paul (Nov 26, 2020). "Austrian village of Fucking to be renamed Fugging". Politico Europe . Retrieved November 27, 2020.
9. ^ Zahir, Fazile (February 4, 2008). "Kebabble: Turkey'due south plush signs of the times". Asia Times Online. Fethiye, Turkey. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2015. {{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
10. ^ ""Degrassi" in Toronto - Boston.com". archive.boston.com . Retrieved December nine, 2022.
11. ^ Honey, Kim (April 7, 2001). "My twenty-four hour period with the Degrassi cult". The Globe and Post . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
12. ^ O'Regan, Donal. "Mystery of disappearing signs in County Composition hamlet". www.limerickleader.ie.
13. ^ Reporter, Catherine Sanz, Ireland. "Route signs that are nigh prized by thieves revealed" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
14. ^ Lucey, Anne. "Theft of Kerry road signs 'an industry'". The Irish gaelic Times.
15. ^ "Road signs to Michael Collins sites frequently stolen". February 3, 2016.
16. ^ "Road signs associated with Michael Collins are regularly stolen, peculiarly in Cork". IrishCentral.com. February 5, 2016.
17. ^ ^{a b} Conradt, Stacy (Feb xviii, 2016). "10 Almost Normally Stolen Street Signs". Mental Floss. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
18. ^ "Alle borden Maaskantje gestolen". Hart van Nederland (in Dutch). December 29, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
19. ^ "Amsterdam deals 'no dope smoking' signs". abc.internet.au. Reuters. February 7, 2006. Retrieved Apr 19, 2021.
20. ^ "Las placas de la 'calle Ac/DC' se pondrán a la venta a partir del próximo lunes". El Mundo (in Castilian). Apr 5, 2000.
21. ^ "Stulna älgskyltar är ett problem". July 6, 2002. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
22. ^ Nyheter, SVT (August xiii, 2007). "Älgsafari slår besöksrekord". SVT Nyheter . Retrieved April 13, 2017.
23. ^ Visible in Google Street View at 57°55′54.83″N 13°13′8.38″E  /  57.9318972°N 13.2189944°E  / 57.9318972; thirteen.2189944 equally of June 2018.
24. ^ "Butthole". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Pearson Educational activity. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
25. ^ Kessen, David (May 27, 2009). "Residents club together to finally change embarrassing street name". The Star. Yorkshire Post Newspapers. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
26. ^ Adams, Stephen (July 23, 2009). "Shitterton and a sign of the times". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved August four, 2010.
27. ^ "Denver's Post-Order Corona Street Signs Selling Briskly". AP NEWS . Retrieved September 26, 2020.
28. ^ "Tape $105,400 Prize Money Listed for Thou Prix Sunday". The New York Times. September 27, 1967.
29. ^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (due north.d.). "State Highway No. 69". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved Apr 6, 2012.
30. ^ "Racy Route 69 Gets New Number". Salt Lake Tribune. April xv, 1994.
31. ^ Staff. "Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting: January 24 and 25, 2007, Salem" (PDF). Oregon Transportation Commission. p. 4.
32. ^ "Renaming US 666 Prompts a Run on 'Satanic' Souvenirs". The New York Times. July 20, 2003. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
33. ^ "State alters 420 MM sign to thwart thieves". Denver, CO: KUSA. January x, 2014. Archived from the original on Jan eleven, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
34. ^ "Idaho replaces mile marker 420 with 419.nine in attempt to thwart stoners". The Guardian, Baronial xviii, 2015.
35. ^ "Interstate 75 Northward - Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton Counties - AARoads - Florida". AARoads. September xiv, 2020. Retrieved April xix, 2021.
36. ^ Williams, Justin (March 9, 2010). "Kenosha'south Richard Bong Recreation Expanse deals with stolen park signs". WITI-TV Fox vi News. Archived from the original on Oct 6, 2011.
37. ^ "Route 66 information folio". Route66usa.com. Retrieved Baronial 24, 2009.
38. ^ Leigh, Patricia (July nine, 2000). "Welcome to Bolinas: Please go on moving on". The New York Times . Retrieved August 24, 2009.
39. ^ "Tourists Go "Derailed" Over Boondocks". Wilmington, NC Star-News. Associated Press. July vii, 1992. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
40. ^ Los Angeles Times, 1984
41. ^ The House On Blue Jay Style That George Harrison Stayed In Los Angeles, feelnumb.com; accessed 2014.04.03.
42. ^ "Sleeping Behave Dunes Voted 'Most Beautiful Place in America'". ABC News. August 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
43. ^ "Michigan dropping 'M' from M-22 signs to deter thieves". MLive.com . Retrieved Oct 20, 2018.
44. ^ "Harry Baals dropped despite massive poll swell". JOE.ie . Retrieved December 25, 2020.
45. ^ Youngs, Nick (June 12, 2021). "BJ Road street sign stolen from Derrick Road intersection". WESB . Retrieved June 12, 2021.

External links [edit]

• Daily Nebraskan article
• Bill Breeden article in Owen County news
• Kansas Country Academy Collegian commodity

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_sign_theft

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