Rushley Road Protest Signs Stolen Again

December drew to an unpleasant close for residents in the Cromwood-Coventry community where once again, signs protesting a nearby development were stolen.

The incident marks the seventh time since the beginning of November that signs protesting the Cromwell Ridge development near the end of Rushley Road have been taken.

Cromwell Ridge is the name given to the 14.5-acre development project where Craftsmen Inc. plans to build more than 30 single-family homes.

"The thieves went to a lot of trouble cutting through wire cable attached to a tree and unbolt[ing] one sign from rebar stakes in order to remove the signs," Cromwood-Coventry neighbor Carol Monfredo wrote in an email.

The signs were stolen in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, and about 10 days earlier signs were defaced with spray paint.

In the Dec. 21 vandalism incident, a camera placed by residents to catch the vandals in action went missing.

"There are new signs up replacing the ones that were stolen," Ann Collier, treasurer of the Cromwood-Coventry Community Association, said on Tuesday.

"We are going to persist with making 2 signs for every one they take," Carol Monfredo wrote in her email to Patch.