Update: Neighborhood sign destroyed

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The entrance sign to the Summerfield Crest neighborhood wasn’t just vandalized.
It was demolished.

All but one stone column of the monument sign, seen from Summerfield Parkway as drivers-by turned onto Blackberry Lane, was destroyed sometime before 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27.

The entire center portion of the sign lay in a grassy area on the side of Blackberry Lane the morning of Thursday, March 28, before being cleared by the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority’s maintenance staff.

Neighbors said a truck was speeding down Summerfield Parkway, before its driver lost control of the vehicle, and it ran through the sign.

Operations Department Director Ryan Heise said the sign’s replacement would cost between $4,000 and $6,000.

Contractors were contacted almost immediately, so a new sign could be erected by mid-April, Heise said.

Heise said vandalism to monument signs and other signs in Lakewood Ranch is common, but vandals typically use baseball bats or spray paint to damage monument signs.

“(Vandalism) has become less problematic within the last few years, but this is not abnormal for us,” he said. “Street signs get taken out (regularly) for us. It’s hard to tell if this (incident) was intentional.”

Heise said the district’s insurance would be contacted, so costs for repairs would be recovered.

Monument signs used in Lakewood Ranch are made of a high-density foam and covered with a stucco finish, Heise said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].