Theft a sign of the times for Colesville markers

One of four placards missing since July 31; civic association members suspect someone stole it

In 2005, a stolen car slammed into an eight-month-old sign marking Colesville on New Hampshire Avenue. And just two weeks ago on July 31, anyone passing near Randolph and Clifton roads could see another sign was missing. That "Welcome to Colesville" sign was one of the two on Randolph Road installed in April. This time, Colesville residents believe it was stolen.

"Since no one has come forward to say, ‘Oh, we borrowed it,' we have to assume it was stolen," said Dave Michaels, the co-chair of the sign committee for the Greater Colesville Citizens Association, which headed the sign project.

Two posts are all that remain of the custom blue-and-white sign meant to give the 3,500-home neighborhood a separate identity from Colesville Road.

"To sum it up, it's just sad," Michaels said.

Luckily, the sign is insured. But the $500 deductible to replace it will be more money out of the pockets of the GCCA. The sign itself is worth $3,000, and with the posts and installation, the total cost for each of the four signs is $4,300, Michaels said.

A police report was filed, but GCCA members say they're unsure if police are investigating the incident.

The GCCA, along with residents and local companies, contributed significant time and resources to get the four signs, Michaels said. The second sign on Randolph Road is on the east side of New Hampshire Avenue near Hammonton Place.

"It's the largest community beautification process the GCCC has ever undertaken in terms of hours spent, dollars raised and dollars spent," he said.

The signs are important because they announce a small, often overlooked neighborhood to passers-by while bolstering community pride, said GCCA's current president, Tom McNamara.

"It gives us an identity to the place that we call home," he said.

Home for Colesville residents stretches from the Paint Branch creek in the east to the Northwest Branch creek in the west and Bonifant Road in the north to roughly Springbrook High School and Cannon Road in the south, Michaels said.

The four signs were placed toward the center of Colesville.

The two along New Hampshire Avenue, each about a mile away from the intersection at Randolph Road, were installed in November 2004 after a lengthy permit process that required approval from both the county and the state. The signs at Randolph Road went through a similar process, McNamara said.

Fred Pulliam, of Pulliam Engineering in Colesville, is one of the major corporate sponsors of the signs. Pulliam said he thinks the theft was a teenage prank.

"I'm extremely disappointed," he said. "It's a sad commentary of the times."

Of the four signs, the one at Clifton Road was the lowest — under 6 feet tall. The rest are 8 feet tall, Pulliam pointed out.

McNamara said the board has every intention of pressing charges if the sign is found in someone's possession.

But other GCCA members say they fear the aluminum interior of the sign may have been sold for parts.

Board members are passing out fliers in the community and have posted a gone missing sign in the original one's place.

Whether the sign is hanging in someone's room or scrambled in a million pieces, no one seems very confident they'll get it back.

"I guess we'll never see that sign again," McNamara said.