Fake Street Sign Mocking CA Retail Theft Spotted Outside Louis Vuitton

SAN FRANCISCO — Mysterious signs in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood stating “Notice: Stolen goods must remain under $950” recently drew the attention of millions on social media and left many perplexed.

The signs surfaced online June 29 in a post from X user t11s that stated “average sf street sign” and was accompanied by a photo of the official-looking sign in front of a Louis Vuitton store. The post had been viewed 7.7 million times on the platform as of Wednesday.

average sf street sign pic.twitter.com/hgiWUQKeXF
— t11s (@transmissions11) June 29, 2024

The sign appears to reference a California law under which stealing $950 or less in money or items from a business during open hours is considered misdemeanor shoplifting rather than burglary.

The poster shared additional photos, of the first sign and another identical sign that had been put up in front of Dior. One of the photos temporarily received a community note stating it had been digitally altered, which the poster denied.

“the stores or the city took them down now, but they were very much real lol,” t11s posted.

San Francisco’s public works department confirmed to KRON that the sign outside Louis Vuitton was not installed by a municipal authority and added that when a city worker went to investigate on June 30, the sign was gone.