People in Wellesley, Boston, want a piece of Lil Nas X’s record-breaking hit for themselves.
According to local authorities, people keep stealing the ‘Old Town Road’ street signs.
via NYDN:
Signage has turned up missing at least three times, according to the Swellsley Report, a local news site.
“Old Town Road,” the history-making smash record from the 20-year-old country rapper — which has commanded the top spot on the Billboard 100 for more than four months — came out in early December but took control of the airwaves in early spring.
That’s when the town started noticing the street’s two signs disappearing, Stephanie Hawkinson, the town’s communications project manager, told the Boston Globe. Thieves have taken off with the signs’ posts too. On Thursday, stumps stood in their place.
Hawkinson said it’s not entirely a laughing matter.
“We understand it’s a funny prank, but it’s also expensive for the town to replace the sign,” Hawkinson told the Globe. “Also, for first responders who rely on GPS, if they’re not familiar with area, it could delay an emergency response.”
That’s one reason town officials might think twice about simply trying to wait out the song’s reign atop the charts.
But they might look to other places with Old Town Roads for ideas about how to adapt to the robberies: the Canadian community of Sicamous, in British Columbia, reportedly started selling Old Town Road souvenir signs for $25 when their street was besieged by bandits.
They might just want to go ahead and rename the road — save themselves some trouble.
