Sign vandal sought

An unknown suspect’s possibly romantic gesture is also an act of vandalism that failed to warm the hearts of those who have to pay to repair the damage.
Someone spray-painted big green hearts on 10 stop signs along Bevis Road, on others near Bascom, and on a few state roads in that area, as well.
The hearts were painted on the fronts of the signs, and in some cases, the backs as well. The letter ‘T’ was painted in the center of some the hearts.
The graffiti was discovered Thursday. Jackson County Road and Bridge sign maintenance man Charles Rogers spent the balance of that day removing and replacing as many signs as he could. He finished up the job when he returned to work Monday morning.
Road and Bridge Superintendent Al Green said the vandalism has been reported to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. criminal charges will be pursued if the person who did it can be identified.
According to Green’s office, replacing the signs will cost the county a grand total of about $670 for the signs, the manpower, the fuel and wear-and-tear on the vehicle Rogers had to use.
Each sign cost nearly $38, according to Green’s office.
“In replacing them to code, we had to use a new type of sign with high visibility material,” Green said. “It’s more expensive. When you add in the time (about five hours) that it took to do the work, and the hazard that it could have meant to someone who didn’t recognize the painted sign as a stop sign — you can’t put a price tag on that — we’re looking at some pretty serious costs.”
Green said regardless of the painter’s intentions, it was illegal to cover the signs.
“It’s an act of vandalism and we’ll be pursuing charges because we’ve got to try to stop some of this,” he said. “ We feel like it’s probably someone who lives up in that area because it was targeted, just sign after sign. If anybody knows anything about this, we’d appreciate them calling us (at 482-9629) or the sheriff’s office (at 482-9624).”