Street signs on Blackhawk Road in Wilmette have become a hot commodity for some sticky-handed Blackhawks fans, police say, with at least one successfully stolen since the team’s Stanley Cup win.
Wilmette Police told the Chicago Tribune that within minutes of the Chicago Blackhawks clinching their third Stanley Cup championship, around 10 p.m. on June 15, a patrol officer noticed two people trying to pull down the Blackhawk Road street sign from a light pole at the Locust Road intersection.
The officer on duty said a man had a youth propped up on his shoulders to try to snatch the sign, but the two took off as soon as they noticed the squad car.
Soon after and just blocks away, the Tribune reports, the same officer found another vandal had the same idea – this time successfully taking home the Blackhawk Road sign on the intersection of Seneca Road.
Blackhawk Road only has a few street signs, as it spans less than a half mile through a usually quiet residential neighborhood in Wilmette.
Police told the publication they were unsure of exactly how much the stolen sign will cost the city, or their value, but because it’s the team’s third title in six seasons they have likely had to patrol the issue in the past.
