In the late hours of August 27 or 28, a sign denoting the Borough of Newtown limit was cut down and stolen at the intersection of Castle Hill Road and Taunton Lake Road. The sign was placed in May of 2023, and only lasted “15 months,” according to Warden Jay Maher.

“The value is $2,000 …we planned on [the sign] lasting 15 years,” Maher continued. Maher stood next to what was left of the sign: a stump and a splinter lying in poison ivy. Maher added that the signs were planted as part of the borough’s bicentennial celebration and there were five signs in total.

“We’re always concerned that this one was most vulnerable to theft in that [it’s] a very desolate area at 2 am,” Maher said. He laughed a little and added, “Although there is a streetlight here.”

The Borough Board of Burgesses is holding its regular meeting next Tuesday, September 10, and plans to talk about a replacement.

“We’re trying to get a price … this is like a one-off … I’ve reached out to Signarama to figure out what that would be,” Maher said.

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner was also at the scene of the crime and expressed his disappointment at the garish act, “It was kind of a point of pride for all of us.”

It took the borough four years to the date to get the signs up around town, and “two minutes” to be taken away as Maher pointed out. It was an idea brought forth by a borough resident back in 2019.

“People around here are not happy about this … I think people really took pride in this,” Gardner said. He continued, “Just the way that it was done, it wasn’t like they just stole the sign, this is just like wants and vandalism, you know, ‘we’re just gonna take this whole thing.’”

“I mean, it upset a lot of people, unfortunately. A lot of people who take pride in living in the borough,” Gardner said.

“People identified it, it was well received,” Maher said. “No one embraced the idea from this particular area. We just happened to put it here. Sometimes you don’t realize something’s value … until it’s gone.”

Maher believes there is no coincidence in timing. “Kids are going back to college … this could be a souvenir on someone’s wall in a dormitory.”

Gardner wants the community to know, “If somebody knows [the sign’s] whereabouts, we would love to have it back, no questions asked.”

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.