Why?

Really, why are people stealing road signs?

Recently, following reporting from this paper that highlighted mistakes on some of Wyoming Department of Transportation’s signs, a few signs were stolen, apparently by someone with a chainsaw who just cut the posts cleanly beneath the signs.

For one, where are you going to put the sign you stole? It’s like hanging up the mount of a deer you poached — it’s not smart to show off stolen goods.

More importantly, whoever did this is costing taxpayer dollars. Already, WYDOT has spent $3,000 trying to fix the mistakes made in their printing shop. Now, they’ll be spending a whole lot more to fully replace these signs. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather my tax dollars go toward repaving roads and fixing potholes over funding an illegal sign enthusiast’s passion to expand his or her collection.

And yes, these are not stop signs or other such signs meant for safety, but they’re still important. These are the signs for visitors to know the most scenic route to take to their destination, or even for locals wanting to take a drive on a weekend.

Road signs really do have it rough. WYDOT spokesman Cody Beers said after a few years just about every sign has at least one bullet hole in it. County staff too have lamented damaged and missing signs over the years. Why? If you want to go plinking, use some old cans or something more official.

Beers said he understood people being embarrassed by the “American All Highway” sign for the Beartooth Highway. But he hopes people are also upset to see signs being stolen.

We should be upset, as this will cost the state far more than printing mistakes.