Apologetic Citizen Returns City’s Anti-Drug Sign 30 Years Later With Note, $50

Whoever stole a sign from New Smyrna Beach bearing an anti-drug message 30 years ago has returned the sign with an apology letter and $50 to cover reinstallation costs.

“New Smyrna Beach Says No To Drugs,” the sign read, tempting the thief to steal it in a “fit of youthful exuberance” sometime in the late ’80s, the city’s police department said in a post on Facebook.

“No statute of limitations on a guilty conscience,” the New Smyrna Beach Police Department wrote on Facebook, after receiving a package in the mail with the large metal sign. Taped to that sign was a money order for $50 and a handwritten note, which read:

“Fathers of NSB, Please accept this sign and funds to reinstall it, as well as my apologies. Sometime in the late 80’s, I stole this sign in a fit of youthful exuberance. Forgive Me!”

Police aren’t exactly sure what to do with the sign now, however.

“Maybe we’ll keep it in the police department as a reminder that people can change,” a lieutenant told WKMG.