Street sign theft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Street sign theft is when street signs are stolen, often to be used as decorations. Although the theft often seems arbitrary, unusual or amusing signs tend to be stolen more frequently. Sometimes considered to be a prank by the perpetrators, the theft is often expensive and inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous.
Popular culture can act as a catalyst to street sign theft. Popular bands The Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd have inadvertently perpetuated street sign theft as their songs and albums include real place names including Penny Lane, Abbey Road, and Brickyard Road. Jeff Foxworthy has alluded to street sign theft being a family hobby as a "sign one might be a redneck".
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[edit] In law
In one notable United States case, thieves were found guilty of manslaughter for stealing a stop sign, and thereby causing a deadly collision [1]. This was popularized in the novel Driver's Ed by Caroline B. Cooney.
[edit] Third world
In the third world, street signs can be a useful resource, for making pots and stoves. To make it harder to make aluminium signs into pots, holes can be drilled into the signs to make them less attractive.[citation needed] Sometimes the signs are stolen to be sold as scrap metal.
[edit] Specific and/or common examples
[edit] Popular culture examples
- Penny Lane and Abbey Road, caused by the Beatles (See above). In addition, Penny Lane in Liverpool is directly opposite halls of residence used by first years at the University of Liverpool; presumably due to constant theft, the road sign at one end is painted on, while at the other end it is positioned high up on the side of a house.
- Brickyard Road, Clay County, Florida (See above). Fans repeatedly stole the road sign because lead singer Ronnie Van Zant was living there before his death in 1977 and his brother, Johnny Van Zant, released an album and single called Brickyard Road in 1990.
- The county eventually erected a concrete pillar with the street name painted on it, as opposed to a traditional road sign.
- Nirvana Avenue, Melbourne, Australia generally suffers the same fate because of the association with the band Nirvana.
- Beer Road, on the outskirts of Orange, Australia. Due to the street sign being constantly stolen, the local council has resorted to attaching name stickers to armco guard railings at the start of the road.
- The sign for Magnanville, Yvelines, France is often stolen by students of Ecole Polytechnique, because Polytechnique's slang for their cafeteria is magnan. Often stolen signs are prominently displayed over the doorway to the cafeteria.
- Another popular site for sign theft is the intersection signs of Haight Street and Ashbury Street in San Francisco because of the associations to the hippie counter-culture of the late 1960s. It has been reported that after numerous thefts, the city installed an alarm system to deter souvenir seekers.
- In West Los Angeles, signs for Stoner Ave are stolen so frequently that the city cannot use the same street name sign template that they use for other city signs, instead keeping a reserve of generic signs to replace the ones that are stolen.
- Leganés, Spain dedicated some streets to rock groups like AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Rosendo. The AC/DC sign was stolen days after inauguration. Leganés authorities now offer identical signs for sale[1]. A fictional theft of the sign by fans appears in the film Isi Disi.
- The sign indicating Southpark Drive in Blacksburg, Virginia is frequently stolen, despite the town's repeated and escalating efforts to deter its theft. The street's signpost is several feet taller than normal, making it difficult to spot from a vehicle.
- Addresses popularized by television dramas, such as Coronation Street, Jump Street, Wisteria Lane, and Melrose Place, make their coincidental real-world locations targets for sign theft. Of the aforementioned television streets, only Melrose Place is actually named after a real location.
[edit] Other culture and language
- The same holds true for 666. U.S. Highway 666 was renamed to 491 in 2003 due to pressure by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson over "infamy brought by the inopportune naming of the road [as the 6th branch of Highway 66]." An enthusiast cites Department of Transportation officials which pointed to sign theft. Skeptics, including National Geographic, believe that the religious right were the driving force behind the change. Ironically, it has been remarked by some that the highway now has a higher casualty rate with the new designation than it had with its previous one.
- Shades Of Death Road in Liberty Township, New Jersey, is desirable for a number of tales about the road and the name itself. Local vigilantes took matters into their own hands and put various lubricants on the pole holding the sign to make it impossible to climb. The other street signs along the road, in two other townships, are metal poles with the names of both intersecting streets in vertical type, harder to read but less attractive to thieves.
- Fucking, Austria is also a popular target for street sign thieves.
- Because of the sexual connotation of its name, the town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania is a frequent victim of sign theft.
- The same applies for the French town of Condom.
- And also to Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Norwegian and Swedish Moose warning signs are often stolen by German tourists fascinated by the animal (See Moose article section for more information).
- The Santa sign in Drøbak, Norway is often stolen. Drøbak is one of the numerous cities around the world that claim to be home to Santa Claus, and have put up an official sign warning of Santa Claus crossing the road.
- Quincy, Massachusetts is another location of increasing street sign theft. Signs have been spotted being uprooted from the ground then stolen. There is no known motive, however, for the thefts of signs in Quincy apart from possible the TV Series of the same name.
- Lost, Scotland Following publicity in tourist guidebooks, due to its unusual name, Lost has suffered from regular theft of street signs bearing its name.
- Another example involves the small town of Luckenbach, Texas after being made famous by the popular song written and sung by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, where signs were stolen almost as fast as they could be replaced; eventually the signs were simply not replaced at all.
- The railway station sign in the town of Llanfair PG, Wales (full name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch) is often stolen due to the town's long name.
- Interstate 69 signs are frequently stolen from the stretch of road leading in and out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Likewise, U.S. Route 69 through the central U.S.. New Jersey suffered a similar problem: the state changed its Route 69 to Route 31 in 1967 because of theft, due to the sexual connotations of the number 69.
- Signs pointing the direction to Shag Point in New Zealand are also frequently stolen because of the connotations of sexual behaviour.
- Leet Dr. in Oakland, CA has been a target of roadsign theft due to its connotation of "elite" in leetspeak. The theft was probably prompted by a site on YTMND which pointed out the street (located near the Oakland Airport).
- A sign near Ham and Sandwich, Kent had to be replaced several times. New signs now show Sandwich before Ham.
- The sign of the Dutch village Sexbierum is also regularly stolen because the name of the village is a contraction of the three words Sex, Bier (beer) and Rum
- A horticultural research facility at the University of Florida is often the target of vandalism due to its sign, Weed Science.
[edit] Gallery of examples
 Swedish moose warning sign, a popular tourist souvenir |
 The Fucking, Austria, street sign |
 Shades of Death Road on a steel I-beam |
 Welcome to Intercourse, Pennsylvania, USA |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Las placas de la «calle AC/DC» se pondrán a la venta a partir del próximo lunes, El Mundo, 5 April, 2000.
