THE residents of a picturesque seaside village say it is being ruined bywhat they suspect to be thieving tourists.
Locals of Swanage, Dorset, claim that holidaymakers have been stealing their street signs as memorabilia, leaving one man picking up the pieces.
Rob Nunn, 70, has been painstakingly repairing the town's signs for years.
He's urged people to stop nicking them so he can focus on keeping them in tip-top shape.
The retired drayman said: "These people need to stop, they are ruining the character of Swanage."
Rob has restored over 100 vintage metal signs and bollards in the pretty coastal resort.
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He works independently and for free, relying only on donations from the community and local businesses.
However, signs for two streets were taken a couple of years ago, while another two have gone missing in the past month.
He added that he is "naturally disappointed" by the thefts, but still won't be put off.
The OAP explained: "I started doing it because the signs were looking old, tired and worn, and you could hardly see the writing on them.
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"The old signs have very rusted bolts, so I take the old board off and once I have done the new sign, I screw the new one to it.
"I repaint and re-sand them, redo the letters on them, and put them on a different backing board."
Nick Rowley, owner of a local garage, loans him a truck so he can take the signs back to his home, where he works on them in the garden.
Rob went on: "
"Without the truck it would be impossible, I couldn’t do the work without him and his team.
"I used to do them in situ, and now that I am replacing the backing boards, I can now bring them back here in the garden if it’s sunny or in the shed."
He is reportedly set for a meeting with Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick next week.
The publicly-minded restorer said he intends to bring up the issue of the thefts and see what can be done to prevent them.
It comes after residents of another seaside resort said their town was also being ruined, but this time by an "ugly and offensive" eyesore.
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Dorset Police have been contacted for comment.
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