You’ve been to the person’s house who has a stop sign or railroad crossing sign adorning their pool house or man cave.

You’ve seen the “Men at Work” sign nailed to the wall of a friend’s garage.

But, when it comes to signs in Dallas County, there’s one sign that Dallas County engineer Coosa Jones said is among the most stolen.

“For some reason, deer crossing signs are the ones we notice are the most stolen, primarily in the western part of the county,” Jones said. “For some reason, that sign among them all, is the one that some people want.”

It’s a constant battle for Jones and a two-man county crew responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the road signs throughout Dallas County.

If it’s not thieves stealing the signs, it’s others using county signs as target practice.

“We seen all kinds,” Jones said. “We’ve had them destroyed by rifles, shotguns and pistols. I guess the signs make for good targets when practicing shooting.”

The signs themselves cost the county less than $50, but the Jones said replacing a sign could cost as must as $150 per sign when factoring in labor, materials and time.

“It’s not a cheap venture by any means,” Jones said. “There’s a lot of work that goes in to it.”

He said the county does not have a set guideline to when a sign must be replaced, saying that common sense goes a long way in determining when a sign has outlived its effectiveness.

The signs are purchased through a bid contract through the state’s county association, giving the county buying power to get signs at a better price.

And, thanks to a grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the county is beginning to install high-visibility signs in many of the high-traffic thoroughfares.

In all, Jones said, the county budgets an estimated $15,000 annually for the replacement and upkeep of the signs along the county roads.