Image: Andrew/Flickr
People keep stealing 420 mile markers on highways, and transportation authorities across the US don't think it's very funny.People have reportedly stolen the highway signs in Colorado, Idaho and Washington, and the trend seems to be increasing in states where marijuana use has been legalized. And while Alaska is apparently spared from the 420 thievery, the Marijane Street sign in Anchorage gets stolen all the time, the Alaska Dispatch reported.Colorado officials got so fed up with the problem that they replaced the sign with a 419.9 mile marker in 2014—now a local tourist attraction and the inspiration for a craft beer."Obviously people steal these signs," Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amy Ford told the Denver Post. "In the past, if a sign was stolen too much, we wouldn't replace it. This is sort of an innovative way for us to keep the sign there."In Idaho, officials also had to swap a 420 mile marker with a 419.9 sign in 2015 after multiple thefts along US Highway 95. While Idaho is known for its strict marijuana laws, sticky-fingered passersby apparently didn't care."Having a sign removed from a highway is pretty rare," Adam Rush of the Idaho Transportation Department told the Associated Press. "In Idaho, people will shoot at them or write on them before stealing them completely. We spend more time mending signs than replacing them."So far, the 420 sign on California's Interstate 5 still exists, despite recent recreational weed legalization in the state. Maybe stoners will take the high road and let transportation workers tackle other problems.Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day by signing up for our newsletter.
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