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Unknown persons replaced place name sign with pizza box

The unknown perpetrators replaced the plaque with this pizza box.(Bild: APA/Florian Musil)

Only two days ago, Vorarlberg's first "regrowing place name sign" was erected and is already gone again: unknown persons stole it on Saturday night - and left a message on a pizza box. 

Just two days ago, the Vorarlberg municipality of Hard proudly presented its new town sign: it is made of bamboo and Accoya (a modified wood, note) and comes from sustainable timber cultivation.

However, the board has now disappeared. Unknown persons stole it on Saturday night and left behind a smeared pizza box instead. 

The new town sign - already stolen.(Bild: Gemeinde Hard)

It reads: "No hard feelings. Grows back anyway. Lustenau 88er's" Two things are now problematic: on the one hand, the theft itself. Mayor Martin Staudinger (SPÖ) naturally reacted badly to the theft: "We received a lot of positive feedback about the regrowing plaque, even from abroad. Now it's gone, a serious theft that endangers road safety." 

The unknown perpetrators replaced the place name sign with this pizza box.(Bild: APA/Florian Musil)

Office for the Protection of the Constitution called in
On the other hand, the number 88 is commonly used in neo-Nazi circles, as it stands for "Heil Hitler". Staudinger announced that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would therefore now also be looking into the matter.

In any case, the stolen plaque will be replaced next week, again with a "new one", explained the mayor.