ROXBURY — Selectmen unanimously voted Tuesday night to replace the new wooden sign at the entrance to Old Frye Cemetery that was vandalized sometime overnight on Oct. 12.

Jean Shaw of the Cemetery Committee recommended replacing the sign, which was torn down and broken in half, with a larger 3- by 4-foot sign. It will cost $175.

Located beside Swift River Road at the Mexico town line, the sign was one of three installed recently at cemeteries in the Roxbury-Mexico area. The sign for Old Frye Cemetery was jointly purchased by Roxbury and Mexico and installed by Mexico workers.

“It’s pretty pitiful that somebody goes and does this after we put a new sign in the cemetery,” board Chairman John Sutton said. “It’s not a road sign or anything else.”

Shaw asked him if she should approach Mexico to share in the replacement costs or go it alone.

“If we do not have the money, I will pay for it,” Sutton said.

However, Renee Hodsdon, tax collector and treasurer, said the town has money in the budget to cover the cost.

Still, selectmen asked Shaw to check with Mexico Town Manager John Madigan.

“What about our sign? The triangle sign,” Shaw then asked.

Sometime on the night of Oct. 15, a thief or thieves stole the picturesque “Welcome to Roxbury Pond” sign at the triangle where Roxbury Notch Road (Route 120) and Main Street meet in Roxbury Pond village adjacent to Ellis Pond Variety. Locals call it the “triangle sign.”

Selectman Mike Worthley suggested seeking donations since it was funded with private monies. When asked by Selectman Timothy Derouche how much it cost, Shaw said she couldn’t remember but it might have been $200.

Shaw told the board that signs on a tree on a town lane were also stolen.

“Except the top two that they couldn’t reach,” she said.

“And at the foot of the notch that sign at the curve that says ‘Moose next 4 miles’ or whatever, that was bent in half, and there’s another sign just beyond Main Street on Route 120 going toward Andover, that was pushed over and I believe that’s a Roxbury sign.”

Derouche said during that same spate of vandalism, the Maine Department of Transportation also had two deer crossing signs in the area stolen.

Another resident said there’s another road sign that was taken down and left way out in the woods. And the board also learned that someone stole a Road Under Construction sign on a town road.

In other news, selectmen learned that Horseshoe Valley, Swain Farm and Old County roads will not be paved until next year, because work started late this year on Sept. 17.

Approximately 2,871 feet of Swain Farm Road was reconstructed, with all culverts replaced and roadside ditched. Additionally more than a dozen large pine trees were removed and the last section of the road was dug up and regraveled.

Approximately 5,280 feet of Horseshoe Valley Road was reconstructed from the Swain Farm Road intersection to the end of Horseshoe Valley Road. All of its culverts are being replaced, sides ditched and two sections of road in bad condition are to be dug up and regraveled.

The same work, including digging up old pavement and grinding it, is to be done on 1,257 feet of Old County Road. Construction on all three roads, except paving, is expected to be completed next month.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com