Colonial road signs lost to old neighborhoods

The old-town feel of Sham Shui Po might have drawn many a tourist to the district in recent years but it is losing that atmosphere with least four "T-shaped" road signs installed in colonial times disappearing in recent months.

The Highways Department said it had filed a police report after finding five such road signs had been illegally removed.

More than 100 years old, the signs were mainly fastened on the external walls of old buildings in Sham Shui Po and Wan Chai.

People started noticing their disappearance on July 18, prompting others to revisit other places to take photos of the remaining road signs and Facebook users to ask about the cause of it.

A Headline Daily reporter found at least four of signs missing in Sham Shui Po, two of which were on the external wall of an old building at the junction of Pei Ho and Fuk Wah streets, above the signboard of a curtain shop.

In their places were "T-shaped" black marks. Staff at nearby stores did not know when they were taken down.

This is not the first time signs had gone missing, and they have mainly been put down to renovations of old buildings or stores.

If done properly, workers would normally remove them after scaffolding had been put up, and reinstall them in their original positions once the renovation works were completed.

However, checks with the Urban Renewal Authority on building rehabilitation show the four buildings hosting the signs were not marked down as having undergone any works.

A department spokesman said five "T-shaped" road signs were found missing after a staff inspection of Pei Ho, Fuk Wa, Apliu and Ki Lung streets in Sham Shui Po.

He said all its road signs are public property.

The department, he added, would advise people in charge of renovation works to return the signs if the external walls of buildings with "T-shaped" road signs were to be demolished.

"It will then consult the relevant heritage conservation departments on the signs that have been recovered, and hand over those with conservation value to them or museums for collection."