Stealing Road Signs Have More Consequences Than Harmless Prank

Several Upper Cumberland counties struggling with having road signs stolen.

Clay County Sheriff Brandon Boone said this has been an issue for several years and is not something new. He said he thinks teens who are up to mischief do not understand the consequences stealing a road sign can have.

“We have a lot of new deputies and new EMS workers that are not from this area that really depend on the road signs from time to time to make it to a residence,” Boone said. “To not waste time turning on a wrong road while responding to an incident.”

Boone said it is also a costly issue to have. He said sometimes it feels like road signs are stolen almost immediately after they have been put back up by the county. Boone said those costs can add up quickly.

Boone said the consequences for getting caught include a theft of property charge. He said sometimes the perpetrator will expose themselves by putting the stolen sign on social or media or by word of mouth.

“And we’ll get a hold of them and say you need to give the sign back,” Boone said. “And that’s worked a lot of times (..) We’ll reach out to them and say hey you need to give that back or we’ll move forward with trying to prosecute. Sometimes I think they just don’t realize the seriousness of it when they’re just trying to make fun.”