By Billy Davis
Panola County authorities are seeking community service for four teenagers who have admitted to vandalizing county road signs.

Panola sheriff’s deputy Mike Davis, responding to a resident’s call, caught one of the teenagers last Friday, June 5, on Barnacre Road.

That arrest led to the other three juveniles, who all confessed to destroying road signs in the past.

Vandalism of road signs is a frequent problem in rural Panola County, which has more than 680 miles of roadways.

It’s often difficult to catch vandals in the act, leading to frustration by authorities while emboldening the pranksters.    

The teenagers, who are all 15 years old, said they destroy the signs “because they’re bored,” said Davis.

Davis recovered some of the signs and returned them to the road department, he said.

Panola County government spent as much as $1,000 last year replacing road signs in the Barnacre area, said Daniel Cole, director of Panola County Emergency Management.

When road signs are knocked down, an ambulance driver who is unfamiliar with county roads could get lost responding to a medical call, Cole pointed out.

“We have a private ambulance service and they may not be familiar with every road,” he said. “Meanwhile, you’ve got some kids being cute.”

Both Cole and Davis are seeking community service for the teenagers through the youth court system.

“They could get to work painting some of the bridges they’ve vandalized,” said Davis.

“I want them to go out and put up road signs,” said Cole.

By coincidence, both Cole and Davis had responded to a one-vehicle accident hours earlier, on Bell Road in the Eureka community.

Warning signs had been erected but knocked down in the sharp curve, where the driver slid off the road into an embankment. The driver was injured but three passengers, including two children, were unhurt.

Davis said the teenagers’ parents have agreed to community service as punishment.