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[manybellsdown]

In high school, I lived on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood were all the streets had female names. Our sign got stolen 5 or 6 times, and I finally found out why. There was a very pretty cashier at the grocery store who had the same name as our street - and she had a creepy stalker guy that kept stealing our sign and leaving it on her doorstep.

[PepperElf]

Probably trying to remove the sign and get rid of it so he can use the excuse, "BUT THERE'S NO SIGN!"

Oooorrrr a fraternity hazing/test thing.

That's what I was thinking. although i guess a prank could also apply.


tho for the road signs... um, you can buy them online anyway. although buying them new probably doesn't get as many "cool points" () as stealing old ones does.

[Greenday]

I had a detour sign throughout college that I'd display in my dorm rooms. My town did construction on our main road. They left a detour sign laying against the curb for THREE months. Finally, I just decided that since the town obviously didn't want, I'd take it.

Couldn't imagine taking a sign being actively used though. That's pretty ridiculous.

[Peppergirl]

I've done it on a dare, too.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

There is a story in one of the Darwin Awards books, that happened in Wisconsin but I don't know where.

A bunch of kids at a party went driving around stealing stop signs. On the way back to the party, their vehicle was hit by a truck and several of the kids died.

The accident wouldn't have happened had the kids not stolen the stop signs that had been at the intersection a short time before.

[EvilEmpryss]

I'm not keen on people making any excuse to take a stop or yield sign. We had a kid back in Cali steal a stop sign from a rural intersection. Shortly thereafter a family was short one father after he ran through the intersection and was T-boned by a truck. It's not funny, it's not a harmless prank.

Street name, parking, and direction signs? I lean towards the funny on that.

And those stand-alone interstate shield signs? Yeah, they make awesome shield for the SCA.

[Blue Ginger]

I know someone that has a 'stop' sign. However the full wording is 'STOP: Order Here'. It was from the Macca's drive thru. It has pride of place in his shed, too.

At one point he also had 18 flags that were used to make the holes on a golf course. The course he liberated them from only has 9 holes. He returned them 2 years later with a note saying 'Sorry, I was really drunk.

A friend used to live in a street named after a global car brand. All the street signs were at normal level except theirs. It was just under the street light. It was moved up the pole after they had to replace it 8 times in 6 weeks.

[Argabarga]

THere's no such thing as harmless sign theft, every one stolen costs someone somewhere money to replace it, we spent $330 this week on sign POSTS alone just to make sure we have enough posts and whatnot to keep our lots signed per local ordinances ahead of the rate of loss due to some weathering, but mostly theft.

If it's not yours, don't take it

Want one? Buy one like we do.

Easy concept.

Found a stolen Stop sign at the bottom of one of our monitored parking garages recently, snapped off at the base. Someone must've been good and drunk and stolen it in the middle of the night, sobered up, realized they shouldn't have done it, and most certainly shouldn't still have it, so they dumped it in the basement of the building.....

I drove it over to the police station, which was across the street and the borough got their sign back

I have routinely spotted stolen borough signs, stop signs, street signs, etc. on porches or frat house lawns, I just walk right in and take them back, so far, nobody has tried to stop me from stealing back their stolen stuff

The towing manager told me back in his tow truck driving days he once pulled up to a red light next to a pickup and noticed that 2 of our "Private Parking" signs were in the bed of the truck. He promptly got out, and took both of them out of the bed. The redneck driver demanded to know "WHAT THE F*** YA THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Taking back our property" the manager responded

The redneck thought about it for a second, and then quietly drove off....

[taxguykarl]

My parents found a yellow stop sign in the attic of the house where I grew up. I waxed it a hung it in my room 'til we redecorated in my teens. To this day I have no idea (and probably don't want to know) where and how the previous owners acquired it.

Back to the OP, why did that fool think he could get away with it? Since the mid '90's most sign manufacturers place serial numbers on their products.

[EricKei]

I'll admit that a street sign (not stop signs, just street names) or three have wound up in our house -- but they were ones which had been knocked over by errant vehicles, with their poles snapped in half by same, which would have had to be replaced anyway ^_^:>

[protege]

I had an old bus stop sign for awhile. At the time, I'd picked it up off the ground...in an effort to stop my newspapers from blowing away. I offered to return it, but because the mountings had been damaged (probably from the same high winds that were threatening my cargo!), I was told not to worry about it. Same with the route sign, which was attached to the main sign with rivets.

Currently, I have a political sign--the ones supporters would plant in their yards. I got mine, simply because I asked for it. He was a family friend, running for county judge at the time. He won, and let me keep the sign.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Currently, I have a political sign--the ones supporters would plant in their yards. I got mine, simply because I asked for it. He was a family friend, running for county judge at the time. He won, and let me keep the sign.

You mean those things get returned at the end of a campaign?

[protege]

You mean those things get returned at the end of a campaign?

Yep. However, quite a few "go missing" during said campaigns. Either they get stolen--quite a few show up in college dorm rooms, or they get removed by property owners.

[EvilEmpryss]

You mean those things get returned at the end of a campaign?

Get returned? Go missing? I have no understanding of these concepts in regards to political signs.

In my area they litter the side of the road for months before and after the voting is over, and don't get taken down until the city/county comes by in a garbage truck to pick them up. Just the other day I saw mowers on the highway mowing *around* an old batch.

[wolfie]

I have routinely spotted stolen borough signs, stop signs, street signs, etc. on porches or frat house lawns, I just walk right in and take them back, so far, nobody has tried to stop me from stealing back their stolen stuff

Back to the OP, why did that fool think he could get away with it? Since the mid '90's most sign manufacturers place serial numbers on their products.

Now that has the makings of a good frat prank. Either make their own "Stop" sign (in 19/20 scale, so it looks legit but a simple measurement will show it isn't) or buy one from a sign supplier (and be sure that the serial # is recorded on the receipt). Leave it on the porch, in view of a hidden security camera. File theft charges against whoever takes it thinking they're retrieving city property. After all, with the measurements being wrong, or the serial number matching their bill of sale, they can prove it's their sign rather than city property.

Yep. However, quite a few "go missing" during said campaigns. Either they get stolen--quite a few show up in college dorm rooms, or they get removed by property owners.

Around here, political parties don't post signs without permission from the property owners (in fact, property owners supporting a given party ASK to get a sign for their lawn). The disappearances are usually connected to the OTHER parties, and at the federal level there are other shenanigans going on (people who have lawn signs for party "A", or who don't have lawn signs THIS election but had lawn signs for party "A" in the LAST election, getting their tires slashed). Would be interesting to see a case where someone bought a house between elections (i.e. they have no connection to what went on during the last campaign), but party "B" thugs remember the house as having had a party "A" sign the previous election and slash tires during the current campaign.