Stolen signs being sold as keepsakes (From Gazette & Herald)

Stolen signs being sold as keepsakes

NORTH Yorkshire's villages are being wiped off the map as thieves steal distinctive nameplates from the county's rural neighbourhoods.

Since the start of the year, at least ten villages have been targeted - and now the old-fashioned Heartbeat Country signs are finding their way onto the internet.

Community Safety Sergeant Cliff Edens said officers seized one sign for Levisham which was up for auction on a railway memorabilia website.

"A number of signs throughout Ryedale which have been stolen have been spotted at car boot sales through the Midlands," he said.

"But we want to stress that the person who bought the Levisham sign and put in on the internet bought it in good faith, and in no way are they implicated."

Signs from Cropton, Appleton-le-Moors, Wrelton, Lastingham and Fadmoor have all gone missing in recent weeks.

And plaques bearing the North York Moors National Park symbol, Ralph's Cross, have also vanished, as reported in the Gazette & Herald last month.

Overnight on Sunday, a sign at the west end of Ampleforth, outside Helmsley, was prised off its stone wall.

A nearby resident was disturbed between 2am and 3am on Sunday, but although they went to investigate they saw nothing, said Sgt Edens.

North Yorkshire Highways officer Peter Renshaw said a county council employee had spotted some of the signs for sale at a car boot sale in Leicestershire, and had contacted him to see if they were being sold off by parishioners.

"The actual signs belong to the parish councils, so they are the ones who are losing out," said Mr Renshaw.

"They seem to have collector value now, which is why we are getting quite worried about the sudden loss of them."

Some of the signs still in place were damaged at the edges, suggesting someone had tried and failed to prise them off, he said.

"I just hope that we can put a stop to this before we lose all of them."

Sergeant Edens urged anyone with information about the thefts to contact the Ryedale Witness Line on (01723) 509662.

Updated: 13:17 Wednesday, May 14, 2003