Campus Signs Gone Missing
April 30, 2009 • By Amy Passaretti, The Breeze
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — When it comes to campus crime, there is one recent increase that seems to have flown under the public radar.
Within the last month, eight residence hall signs have been reported stolen, or attempted to be stolen.
University spokesman Don Egle said this happens every school year and Lee Shifflett, JMU chief of police, said it happens most often in spring semesters.
The cost of each sign is about $300 and is usually replaced within 24 to 36 hours, according to Egle, which could be why many students may never even realize they’re gone.
“I didn’t even notice it was missing,” said Destine Windon, a freshman living in Eagle Hall, where a sign was stolen April 19. “And just, what would possess you to take this sign, why would you do that?”
Garber Hall’s sign was reported stolen on April 3 and Short Hall’s was reported attempted to be stolen and was damaged as a result, on the same day. Eight have been stolen in total since January, according to Shifflett.
Shifflett said in an e-mail that “the punishments can range from judicial sanctions to criminal larceny charges or a combination of both.”
However, no suspects are currently identified for any of the eight stolen signs.
Sophomore Katie Gordon proposed one explanation for why people may want to take their buildings’ signs.
“I guess if they felt like they were really close with the people in their building or had a really good time in that building,” Gordon said. “It’s kind of memorabilia, I guess.”
Some students just think it would be done as a joke.
“Probably some people were out there with their friends late at night and thought it’d be a good idea,” freshman Amilie Napier said.
Contact Amy Passaretti at breezenews@gmail.com
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My freshmen year some of the guys in our dorm tried to take the sign out of the ground. Our window was maybe 10 feet from the sign and it was making a lot of noise coming out of the ground and took em over 30 minutes. I don’t know how any one can get away with getting those things out of the ground.