Displays of stolen street signs and traffic cones have become a popular form of decoration for Ohio U. students’ homes and dorm rooms, but this adornment comes at a high price for Athens taxpayers.
Since 2005, almost 130 street signs have been stolen or vandalized throughout the city. This costs about $9,000, which comes out of taxpayers wallets, said Andy Stone, director of Engineering and Public Works.
“Sign vandalism and theft occur pretty frequently,” Stone said.
He estimates that at least two signs are stolen each month, with increased incidents during the school year.
OU seniors Taylor Brown and Shawn Grindle said they saw street-sign theft firsthand when passing through their housemates’ living room last year.
“It was a really flashy living room,” Brown said, referring to her housemates’ collection of stolen signs and traffic cones.
Although the number of recorded street-sign thefts is high, few people are caught or required to pay for the damages themselves.
“It is not often that we have cases of stolen street signs found in people’s houses,” Athens Police Department Capt. Tom Pyle said. “If we do find an Athens’ street sign in a house or catch someone stealing it, the possessors are usually charged with theft or possession of stolen property.”
The same holds true for street signs found in dorm rooms, OU Police Chief Andy Powers said. OU Police Officers usually find stolen street signs in dorm rooms while responding to separate incidents, such as underage drinking complaints, he added.
The Department of Engineering and Public Works owns all traffic control and street signs throughout the city, Stone said. The department purchases standard signs such as “Stop” and “Yield,” but manufactures more specific signs, such as street signs.
Unless a street sign is vital for drivers’ safety, the sign is not immediately replaced, but added to the department’s work order system to be reinstalled when deemed necessary, Stone said.
City street signs are the most commonly stolen because people want to keep them as memorabilia, Stone said, adding that since the Palmerfest riots of 2009, the “Palmer Street” sign has been stolen several times.
Although OU student Julian Stapleton did not mention stealing a sign from Athens, the sophomore studying theater said he did take a “No Outlet” sign from an alleyway on The Ohio State University’s campus for memorabilia.
He added that he transformed the sign into a coffee table for his dorm room.
Typical street signs, such as “Stop,” cost the city about only $80 to replace; but larger signs, such as highway signs, can cost the city $150 to $300 to replace, Stone said.
An $800 “Road Closed” sign was stolen from West State Street during an anarchist parade in Athens July 2007, Stone said, adding that city taxpayers had to foot the bill to replace the sign that barricaded the intersection of West State Street and North Court Street.
“Nobody wants to be a narc, but if you know someone who is going to steal a sign, advise them not to because it just costs the taxpayers (money),” Stone said.
“So if you steal a sign, you’re pretty much stealing from your fellow citizens.”