STOP.
SPEED LIMIT 45.
Buel Road, Mill Pond Road. Staleyville Road.
That’s just the beginning of a list of more than two dozen road signs someone or more likely, someones, took from Town of Sharon roads sometime between Wednesday and Monday.
Highway Superintendent Bill Barbic Jr. noticed first one missing sign, then a few more, then at least 25 of them first thing Monday.
“The list stretches from one end of the town to the other,” Mr. Barbic said Monday afternoon. “If they couldn’t unscrew them, they just took the sign post too.”
Most of the signs are tamper-proof, he said, and require a special tool for removal, pointing to the fact that the thefts were well thought-out.
“All of them, they’re where neighbors couldn’t see someone taking the signs,” he said. “That’s the only method to the madness.
“Sign, sign, sign—then a bend in the road and no signs. They just went down the back roads.”
Mr. Barbic said the Town of Cherry Valley is also short a couple of signs at that end of town; the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
Typically the town loses a couple of road signs a year, Mr. Barbic said; West Creek Road and Jones Road are especially “popular.”
“But this? I already have calls out. These signs have to meet state specs. It’s going to cost us several thousand dollars to replace them.”
Mr. Barbic said he took a quick look on Facebook Marketplace to see if someone was selling the signs for home décor, but didn’t find anything.
He suspects the high price of galvanized metal is the real reason behind the thefts—though it’s hard to imagine them ending up at scrap dealer without raising suspicion.
Anyone with any information on the stolen signs can call the Sheriff’s Office at (518) 295-8114.
The missing signs include:
• Buel Road—yellow corner sign and post, Town of Sharon sign, Zoning in Effect sign, two 45mph signs, an Amish sign, yellow corner sign and post.
• Zeller Road—Town of Sharon sign and post, Seasonal Road sign.
• Leesville Cross Road—STOP sign at county end, STOP Ahead sign and post.
• West Creek Road—West Creek Road sign, STOP sign.
• Staleyville Road—Children at Play sign, two tractor (farm) signs, yellow corner sign, two 45mph signs plus posts.
• Mill Pond Road—Weight limit sign, STOP sign.
• Lynk Road—Lynk Road sign, 45mph sign.
• Jones Road—Amish sign, 45mph sign.
• Kilts Road—Kilts Road sign at the county end.