DORRANCE TOWNSHIP -- Officials in Luzerne County are pleading with thieves to stop stealing road signs.
Dorrance Township is overwhelmed by the number of signs stolen there and officials say it's not only costly, but also dangerous.
Officials in the township say they can't keep up with how many road signs that have stolen in the past three months. They say thieves may not understand the full impact of taking down those signs.
Throughout Dorrance Township, road signs have been disappearing. In some areas, like a bridge on St. Mary's Road, every sign has been stolen.
Residents like Jessica Winkler just don't understand why someone would do this.
"Why would you steal a sign for? It's just not right and you are causing danger to other people," Winkler said.
Township officials agree, saying the problem has gotten out of control.
Each stolen sign costs about $50 to replace.
"We have at least 20 signs and stop signs. There's one stop sign ahead sign, that's all missing this year within the last three months, I think it is," said township roadmaster Todd Badman.
Along a bend on St. Mary's Road there should be three directional signs, but many have been stolen throughout the township. Officials say it's not only costly to replace them, but every minute one is down, it poses a significant danger to those in the community.
While the township has not reported any accidents as a result of the stolen signs, they have a warning for the thieves.
"It's just the thing, it could be their family that they stole the sign, it could be their mother or father coming through and a car hits them head on and it hurts them, and they can look back and say, 'Hey, that was my fault,'" said Badman.
Officials say they are not sure who may be stealing the signs, although the thefts seem to pick up when college students are in town.
They added that if catch the thieves, they plan to prosecute them.