Highway safety is compromised and taxpayers lose when vandals shoot, steal or vandalize roadway signs, according to a Wyoming Department of Transportation release.

WYDOT District 5 annually inspects about one-third of the roadway signs in Fremont, Hot Springs, Washakie, Big Horn and Park counties, and small slivers of Teton and Natrona counties.

Signing costs are expensive for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and 476 signs will be replaced and/or upgraded in 2024-25 due to being missing and/or vandalized, or peeling or faded.

“Vandalized and destroyed signs represent 11% of the total number of signs (53) being replaced this year, and missing signs (55) make up 12% of the signs being replaced,” said WYDOT area traffic supervisor Steven Otto in Basin.

There have been issues in Park County specifically with signs being stolen, with a number of reports made to the Park County Sheriff’s Office about such issues.

“Including labor, material and equipment use, it’ll cost $13,972 to replace the signs that were vandalized and/or missing in one-third of District 5 (northwest Wyoming) in 2024,” Otto said.

Of the 476 northwest Wyoming signs to be replaced over the next year, 368 (77%) are peeling, faded or have reached the end of their usable lives. Of the 476 signs to be replaced, 263 (55%) will be new signs and 213 (45%) will be new aluminum overlays. 

Sign damage, including vandalism, compromises highway safety, according to Capt. Jeramy Pittsley of the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

“We continue to use today’s technology to catch vandals in the act of destroying this public resource,” Pittsley said.

Pittsley encourages citizens witnessing vandalism of signs or other crimes to call the Wyoming Highway Patrol at 1-800-442-9090.