Best of 2019: Ten of 26 Whanganui sawn-off and stolen road signs recovered

Ten signs that have been recovered are being put back into place as council waits until the end of the week to see if 16 others are found before ordering new ones. Photo / Bevan Conley

This summer the Chronicle is bringing you another look at some of the best content of 2019. This story originally ran on June 27, 2019

Ten of twenty-six road and business signs that were sawn-off and stolen from Springvale have been located.

A resident found the signs in good condition on Rapanui Rd and gathered them up to be collected by the Whanganui District Council's roading contractor.

Senior roading engineer Brent Holmes said the signs are currently going back up.

"We will wait until the end of this week before ordering replacements in case more of the signs are recovered," Holmes said.

"However, we realise it is important to get replacement street signs up as soon as possible."

The council appealed for sightings or information regarding the signs after they were discovered missing on Monday, June 17, believed to have been taken the night before.

Signs including Grey St and Somerset Rd were missing, as well as Devon Rd and business signs for Kaierau Rugby Club and the Springvale Garden Centre near it.

Local business owners Sandra and Eddie Tofa had their River City Boxing Club sign stolen, which if not recovered, will leave them out of pocket to the value of $80.

Holmes said that if the remaining missing signs are found after new ones have already been ordered, they will be kept as spares.

"We hope the public can provide us with information to recover the rest of the signs before the end of the week," he said.

"We will make a formal report to the police when we have more specific leads to pass on to them."