Someone was trying to pull a fast one out in Morrison County recently. The Sheriff's Office posted to social media a reminder that it's illegal to replace speed limit signs, which is what was found to have happened recently.

The Morrison County Sheriff’s Office received a report from the Public Works Department that a 30 MPH speed sign was stolen off Aztec Road, south of the Lake Shamineau boat landing. The speed sign was replaced illegally with a 20 MPH speed sign. If you have any information regarding this incident, please call our Sheriff’s Office at (320) 632-9233.

That's right, someone took a 30-mile-an-hour speed limit sign and replaced it with a 20-mile-an-hour speed limit sign in the area of Aztec Road near the boat landing on Lake Shamineau.

According to Minnesota Statute 169.073:

169.08 UNLAWFUL TO POSSESS, ALTER, DEFACE, OR REMOVE SIGN.

No person shall, without lawful authority, possess, or attempt to or in fact alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic-control device or any railroad sign or signal or any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon, or any other part thereof. A person who voluntarily notifies a law enforcement agency that the person is in possession of such an article, and who returns the article within ten days after gaining possession thereof, shall not be subject to prosecution for such possession.

I never knew that you had a 10-day grace period on something like this, but knowing that, it appears that whoever knows who took has a now 9 day window to return the sign, and not face prosecution.