Dozens of street signs stolen from poles in Ridgewood, New Jersey

RIDGEWOOD (WABC) -- It's costly, and a danger to the public: dozens of street signs have been stolen in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

The problem has gotten so bad that the town is now offering amnesty for the return of the missing signs.

Police say it's a mysterious pattern that happens around this time every year in Ridgewood, blank poles with street signs vanishing without a trace. And the signs aren't cheap so it's costing the taxpayers a lot of green.

It's a crossroads Ridgewood police say they've been at before, as one by one street signs throughout the community are disappearing. Chief John Ward estimates between 30-40 signs have been stolen in just the last few weeks.

"What we've found in the past is sometimes it's the college kids that are taking the signs with them back to college as kind of memorabilia or an attachment to their hometown sometimes they land up in people's houses," said Ward.

While some may simply dismiss this trend as kids being kids, the signs cost $65 a pop and that's not including the labor hours to replace. Which means the small village of Ridgewood is now footing a large bill of several thousand dollars, and police say this isn't a prank, it's a crime that could have serious consequences.

"Let's say a paramedic unit is responding from out of town who's not familiar with the streets and now there's missing signs and is driving around trying to find a location that could cost somebody their life."

For now police are offering a window of amnesty and anyone can bring a sign back with no questions asked.

Police say this window of amnesty will remain open until Sept 15th and after that they're going to be looking to prosecute anyone caught with these signs.