Sign Bandit on the Loose in Bonita

It's been a custom for years now that if your non-profit group or business is having an event, you put up a sign. Multi-family garage sales, plant sales, weekly organic food, whatever . . . you post a sign to let the neighborhood know about the event and the important details such as date and time.

First, the political signs for District 1 Supervisor started disappearing. I heard about it but didn't give it too much thought because there are always those type of people who only want their candidate's signs displayed.

Next, I was in need of a junk removal service and drove down to the intersection at Proctor Valley and San Miguel roads to jot down some phone numbers. I had seen three signs posted there just a few days prior. There were none in sight. I thought it was a little strange that they would all decide to remove their signs at the same time.

On May 10th, the Bonita Valley Garden Club held their annual Spring Bazaar. We posted signs about a week before to let everyone know about the event. After the sale, we went to take down our signs and could only find a few. Had club members picked up the other signs for us?

We usually wire our signs to a pole because it puts the sign at eye level and those H-stands are near impossible to drive into the hard Bonita clay. The three signs that were found had been unconnected from the pole and thrown face down on the ground. They were still in useable condition, just a little dirtier and more mangled than usual.

With that thought it mind, I pulled out my sign locations list and returned to the scene . . . this time surveying the ground. Bingo! I found 13 signs and all had the wire cut that held them in place. Some were in the street and driven over by unsuspecting cars.

I noticed that when I went to pick up our banner at Central and Sweetwater, all the signs had been removed from the fence and thrown facedown in the weeds. Our banner was fine. I guess the bandit is a Sign Bandit and not a Banner Bandit! I picked up four different vendor signs and leaned them against the fence so they might possibly be seen.

All 13 of our signs had been cut with wire cutters close to the corrugated board. They were no longer useable in that condition and the signs themselves were badly damaged. As I was collecting the last sign, Christian and Alyssa from the Ranchito Milkyway Farmstand stopped by to say hello. I showed them the sign and told them about the other 12. They thought it was as bizarre as I did.

Skip to yesterday, I get a phone call from Christian. His Ranchito Milkyway Farmstand sign on Proctor Valley and San Miguel was removed and thrown to the ground. And all the other signs posted at that intersection.

We definitely have a Sign Bandit in our midst. Rambunctious teenagers? Doesn't feel that way to me. More like an unhappy Grinch-type person. But these signs were spread all over Bonita so this person—if just one—was very motivated.

Anyone see anything or have any ideas? Leave a comment to share with the group.

By the way, Sunnyside Common Sense is free and gladly posts upcoming events when you have them and it might save you the expense of having your signs destroyed!

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