Thief steals road signs in Rogers County, creates dangerous intersections

ROGERS COUNTY, Okla. — Officials in Rogers County tell FOX23 someone has continued to steal road signs from a rural intersection for months, and it’s putting drivers and children in danger.

“We had four instances in July,” Rogers County Head of Sign Maintenance Lee Francis said.

And since then—whoever it is that’s been helping themselves to road signs at Rogers County Roads 523 and 4180 has been getting greedier and greedier.

“Then we had another incident about two or three weeks later,” Francis said. “And we just had about a week and a half ago another incident.”

He says on average, it’s normal to lose 2-3 signs per week across the entire county. But at this single rural intersection alone, they’ve had 30-plus signs go missing the past two months.

Stop signs are not the thieves’ only target. They’ve also stolen school zone signs indicating a slower speed limit around a nearby elementary school and crosswalk signs meant to help drivers see children crossing the street.

“They just continue, sometimes on a daily basis, stealing the signs,” he said. “And it gets old, it gets expensive.”

And it gets dangerous.

“If those signs are gone… someone new to the area may hit a child,” he said. “That’s always a possibility.”

And because of that—if you’re caught stealing those signs in particular--your penalty is a lot harsher.

“Other signs would be a misdemeanor, but regulatory signs like stop signs and school zones are a felony,” Francis said.

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