Crimesider
Crimesider
October 12, 2012 9:05 AM

"Zombies Ahead": Construction sign tells Maine drivers to be very afraid

By
Barry Leibowitz
Topics
Daily Blotter

Sign warning of road construction in Portland, Maine was changed by a hacker to read "Warning Zombies Ahead!" on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Jeff Peterson, WGME, via CBS Boston
(CBS/AP) PORTLAND, Maine - Construction delays can be scary enough for drivers, so imagine being warned about "Zombies Ahead."

That's what happened to motorists in Portland, Maine this week, and city officials say they are more angry than frightened. They're trying to find whoever tampered with an electronic sign.

The sign at a road construction site originally read "Night work 8 pm-6 am. Expect delays."

Wednesday morning a hacker changed it to read "Warning Zombies Ahead!"

City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg tells the Portland Press Herald that tampering with a safety device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

She says the sign is a safety precaution and changing it could have led to driver distraction. And she says it's not first time such tampering has happened involving a highway sign.





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