Signs In Sleepy Austrian Town Of St Corona Am Wechsel Stolen By Pandemic Pranksters

Pandemic pranksters have stolen the signs leading in and out of the small Austrian town of St. Corona am Wechsel.

St. Corona am Wechsel, consisting of only 392 inhabitants, is located in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.

Due to the pandemic, road signs bearing the sleepy town’s name are being stolen by so-called street sign hunters.

According to local media, two signs at the town’s entrance and exit were stolen on New Year’s Eve although their disappearance was not noticed until the 2nd January.

The authorities said they are not surprised by the theft, claiming that they have been expecting it since the beginning of the pandemic. The small town is located near a ski resort and sees many tourists passing through.

In a similar incident in the Austrian municipality of Tarsdorf, the village of Fucking was changed to Fugging at the start of the new year.

The road signs were a popular visitor attraction and often stolen by souvenir-hunters until 2005 when they were upgraded to be theft-resistant.

The change to Fugging, which is pronounced the same in the local dialect, was rejected by the local authorities in 2004 but passed in late 2020.

The street signs in St. Corona am Wechsel also become a popular attraction since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

After the theft was reported to the police, the local authorities ordered new signs which should be erected soon.

It is unclear if they plan to make them theft-resistant to deter future street sign hunters.

Archive story: How A Village Called Fucking Helped Put A News Agency On The Map


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Georgina JadikovskaSub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

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