The famous “Center of the Universe” signpost was stolen from Fremont earlier this week.
According to a post by Maque DaVis in the Fremont Arts Council Facebook page, a woman took the sign at 5:30pm on Tuesday (Nov. 6). “She broke off the post, and put the rest of it and the signs in her car and drove off,” DaVis writes. There’s a video of the theft, which has been handed over to Seattle Police.
The sign, located at the intersection of Fremont Ave N and N 35th St, points to a great array of places, including Rio De Janeiro (1225km away), the Sunday Market, the Fremont Troll, and Noogie (Top of Head).
A little history on the signpost, from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce website:
According to reliable sources, Fremont lies in a special geophysical local. Stay long enough and you too, will notice an odd gravitational pull, the inability to stay away, the overwhelming urge to return again and again.
In 1991, after a careful and considered study of these effects, Fremont Scientists, determined the Center of the Universe to be at the intersection of N Fremont Ave and 35th St N – with the reasoning that this local can neither be proven, nor disproven!
The sign is on a traffic island at the intersection of North Fremont Avenue and North 35th Street, which residents of Fremont have considered to mark the center of the universe since the early 1970s. In 1994, the Metropolitan King County Council proclaimed it officially.
“A reward is offered for any information leading to the recovery and arrest of thief,” DaVis writes. If you have any information about the incident, contact the Fremont Arts Council at 206-547-7440.
Photo from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce