Crime in the country: 420th Street and stop signs vandalized and stolen in Seward County

BEAVER CROSSING, Neb. (KLKN) — Numerous street signs, including stop signs, have been stolen in Seward County.

A popular destination for the thieves is 420th Street near Beaver Crossing. Some signs there were taken down and thrown in ditches a half-mile away.

Jon Regnier, the highway superintendent for the Seward County Roads Department, said officials have picked up 19 signs in the past two months.

Some other signs are nowhere to be found.

“Some people think it’s cool to have it in their house, on their walls. I know some people try to scrap them for aluminum,” Regnier said.

He said the county has a $5,000 budget in place for replacing street signs, which comes from taxpayers’ wallets.

“The sheriff’s department, they can’t be everywhere at the same time,” Regnier said. “It’s pretty hard to mitigate it. Usually where these are happening at, there’s no trees close by to put up trail cameras, so we’re hoping the public will help by calling us when they see some of this.”

The missing signs also pose a safety risk for drivers.

“Eventually, it’s going to get down to the point where somebody’s going to get seriously hurt, and we don’t want that,” Regnier said.

Mary Hamilton of Beaver Crossing said she’s worried that the lack of stop signs will cause a deadly crash.

“There’s been several crashes around York,” she said. “And I know that a lot of people, if they go through the intersection, it could be dangerous and cause a death even.”