Rick Russell is not just looking for a sign, he’s looking for 31 of them.

That’s how many street signs have disappeared around town since June 15, and Russell, director of the Salem Department of Public Works, figures the number is a low estimate, as more signs are reported missing or stolen each day.

Though a few street signs go missing from year to year, Russell has never seen anything like this and believes it may be the actions of an individual or the same group of culprits.

“It happens during the course of the year, where we’re missing a few, but this is more than prank,” he said. “It’s not just vandalism, but I imagine (it is also) destruction to town property.”

According to Russell, the department first noticed the uptick in thefts about a week ago when five signs disappeared in a single night across town. Since then, the problem has escalated, creating a headache for department employees and a potential public safety concern for town officials.

“Our police and fire departments depend on street signs. Not everybody knows every single street off the top of their head, especially if the Fire Department is responding to somebody having a heart attack. They have got radio communication, but when seconds count it helps,” Russell said. “You might have the police chasing somebody and they’re trying to give a location and they end up going by a street and there’s no signs.”

Capt. Shawn Patten of the Salem Police Department echoed Russell’s assessment and said that if caught, the perpetrators would be charged with theft.

“What needs to get out there is that this is a real public safety issue. There are so many streets and roads in town that (the thefts) can have an impact. If they’re trying to reach a side street during an emergency, it can have an impact,” he said.

According to Patten, officers on patrol have been notified about the rash of thefts and are on the look out for the perpetrators. Word has also been spread to the public to report any suspicious activity, Patten said. Authorities are urging anyone with information regarding the stolen street signs to contact the police department at 893-1911.

In the past, the signs most likely stolen were from those streets that bore the name of an individual or had a funny connotation, according to Russell. Some, like the sign for Easy Street, are taken all the time, he said.

Even before the latest rash of incidents, the popularity of some streets for thieves led the DPW employees to take extra precautions.

“We had one (street) that (the thieves) took 14 signs in one year. We did everything we could do,” he said. “We had the pole cemented into a half a yard of concrete, we greased the pole with axle grease, we welded the sign to the pole, and they got it. Everything we did and they ended up taking it.”

The thefts do not come without a price, according to Russell. Each sign costs the town about $100 to make, not counting the man hours put into the operation. Russell estimates that the number of signs stolen in the past month will cost the town more than $1,000.

“Twenty-seven doesn’t seem like a lot, but that’s the signs that we know about. There could be more out there missing,” he said.