The missing road sign valued at $1,400 has been found and returned to the Warren County Highway Department.
Road Superintendent Levie Glenn informed Highway and Bridge Committee members the sign was found in a wooded area beside a road.
“A guy called me Sunday morning and he said ‘Levie, I found your light.’ I asked if it was damaged and he said ‘No, it looks like it’s still good.’ It was on Wade Road which is behind Ivy Bluff Church of Christ out in the Centertown area. It was in the woods.”
Before being taken by unknown persons, the sign was originally placed by the Highway Department at the Bertha Owens Road and Ivy Bluff Trail intersection at the request of residents because they were concerned for their Amish neighbors.
The area is locally called “chicken hill” and the concern was for a possible collision between slow-moving, horse-drawn buggies and fast-moving motor vehicles.
On July 7, Glenn placed a sign depicting a horse and buggy with a solar-powered flashing light on top. It was stolen, post and all, on July 13. A reward of $500 was given for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible, as well as a no-questions-asked option for returning it by the person responsible.
“They saw the article in the paper about the road sign,” said Glenn. “This good Samaritan’s wife had seen something yellow lying in the leaves in a little opening in the woods. He went down there Sunday morning and it was the post, sign, solar panel and all. I called my guys to go out there and get it. It wasn’t working but it was all there and not bent.”
Upon closer inspection, someone had opened the mechanical box containing the solar light motor and had unplugged the wire to stop the blinking. Once the wire was reconnected, the solar light came back on.
Glenn says the sign will be placed back in its original location, with an added security measure. He credits the Southern Standard for helping get the word out that led to the sign’s return.
“We’re going to put it back up, but this time we are going to concrete it into the ground,” said Glenn. “All this was brought about because of the article in the paper about the reward. I believe the ones who took it were going to do something with it. Then the article came out in the paper and they got scared someone was going to turn them in to get the $500 reward. So, they left it in an opening on a dead-end road.”
While the return of the sign didn’t fall into those guidelines of an arrest and conviction for taking the sign and the county wasn’t obligated to pay the reward, Glenn said he still offered the good Samaritan a monetary gift for its return, which was declined.