Often-stolen signs are not replaced anymore, says county

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By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Updated 9:57 PM Tuesday, July 27, 2010

XENIA — The Greene County Engineer’s office does not even bother installing street signs on Wildman Road anymore because they vanish so quickly, said Robert Geyer, the county engineer.

“You could put it up today and it’d be gone tomorrow,” Geyer said. “It’s out in the boonies and easy to steal.”

Theft is one of the main reasons Geyer’s office spends thousands of dollars each year replacing or repairing vandalized signs on the county’s roads. He said people steal the signs to decorate their bedrooms, garages and dorm rooms.

Geyer said signs on roadways with humorous and interesting names — such as Wildman Road and Bone Road — are most commonly targeted by thieves. But even signs on streets with banal names occasionally go missing.

In Montgomery County, thieves have snatched signs on streets such as Stoner Drive and Snake, but the engineer’s office installed replacement signs on much higher posts, out of the reach, said Joseph Litvin, Montgomery County engineer.

Engineer offices employ a variety of measures to cut down on name and traffic sign thefts, including buying special brackets and bolts to more firmly fix the signs in place, but the activity persists.

A determined thief with the right tools can remove almost any sign. Litvin said his office spends roughly $100,000 annually on new poles, signs and labor and equipment costs. But, of course, the vast majority of damage is attributable to motor vehicle crashes, not criminal mischief.

On Miami County’s township and county roads, about 1,200 signs have been vandalized in some fashion since 2000, about 385 of which were road name signs, said Gregg Brookhart, assistant Miami County engineer.

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