Fowl play suspected in mystery of missing road sign

Monday 29 July 2019

Generations have puzzled over the chicken's precise reasoning for crossing the road...but until now, no one has spared a thought for which particular road the chicken wanted to get across.

That punchline-defying mystery has just got even more hen-igmatic with the assumed theft of a spoof road sign on the border of St Lawrence and St Peter, which celebrated the area's feral chickens, and has left the sign's creators scratching around for an answer.

A couple of months ago Express revealed that a London-based art collective with ties to the island – called the Anonymous Arts Group – had claimed responsibility for a new sign designating Route de L'Aeval, or commonly known as the old German road, as ‘La Vallée des Poulets Libérés’, or the Valley of the Freed Chickens, which they say has been made almost entirely from recycled materials, and which mimics the hen-manship of the island's conventional road signs. 

Pictured: the sign before its mysterious disappearance. 

It seems the name has been chosen due to the fact that chickens and roosters wander around the area freely. A Government spokesperson confirmed to Express that only the Parish is responsible for naming roads and putting up signage.

But over the weekend it emerged that the new sign had disappeared, ruffling the feathers of the Anonymous Arts Group:

"St Lawrence and St Peter’s parish, and the States of Jersey have confirmed to a member of the group  that they have not removed the sign. This means that despite the reverse side clearly warning that it is a gift and its removal by anyone other than the States of Jersey will result in prosecution. The Anonymous Arts Group also warn that they will prosecute  any future purchaser for recieving stolen goods.

"It is more than clear that the person(s) who removed the sign are nothing more than common thieves with low magpie mentality in need of councilling if they are stealing  something that cannot be re-sold or eaten, they are clearly void of any humour and have removed something that has robbed fellow islanders of an opportunity of laughter and meriment."

And it seems that the thief may have pecked off more than they can chew, as on the reverse of the sign there is a curse, echoing Shakespeare's infamous warning on his own tombstone to deter future generations from disturbing his bones:

Pictured: The warning on the back of the sign. (Anonymous Arts Group)

The group has since offered a "£1,000 reward" for the safe return of the sign, but, with a string of "terms and conditions" attached, the reward from the satirical arts group is unlikely to be the monetary reward it seems...