(Town of Wellesley; Liliane Lathan/Getty Images for BET)
WELLESLEY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — One local town is having a tough time holding on to a certain street sign, and it's all thanks to the summer's biggest song.
Wellesley's Old Town Road sign keeps getting stolen due to the popularity of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road."
Emma, who lives on the residential street off of Glen Road, moved to Old Town Road in April—just as the record-breaking jam began its climb to pop chart dominance.
"I think it's funny that it happens to be the street that we live on, and there are so many other street signs that will never have a song about them," she told WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl. "So it's funny for the moment!"
But for local officials, it isn't so funny. In fact, the problem has been so pervasive, they've stopped replacing the sign.
"Currently the street sign posts are empty," a post on the town's website read. "The Department of Public Works is waiting for the song's popularity to fade before replacing the signs again."
They did replace the sign the first two times. Each time the sign is stolen, a replacement costs $280.
"I've been wondering why that sign hasn't been replaced," resident Kitty said. "It hasn't been here for a couple months, and usually Wellesley's on this stuff."
In addition, not having signs posted could have an impact on safety.
"First responders often rely on the street signs in emergencies and missing signs could delay response times," the town wrote. "The Town of Wellesley hopes the recent, humorous publicity will help discourage individuals from taking Old Town Road signs or any other town street signs in the future."
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WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl (@KBuhlWBZ) reports