The signs may have been too popular. Thieves made off with two of the 200-pound icons in July 1996. Although both later were recovered and posted again, the third was swiped in March 2001 and has never been seen again. Ditto for the one that was re-swiped last September.

Then, last weekend, the one remaining sign was so vandalized folks here couldn't believe their eyes. Someone had taken a saw and hacked off the surfer at the ankles — leaving only his tan feet riding a yellow surfboard. Where the surfer had been, there is now a hole through which visitors see nothing but blue sky.

Residents were shocked to learn anyone could do something so lowdown.

"No way!" exclaimed Omni Casey, a sales associate at Hale'iwa's Surf N Sea. "That's terrible. It's ridiculous. It makes me mad."

Dive manager Eric Basta was even more incensed.

"This is horrible," he said. "People from all over the world come to see that sign. Whoever did it is a bunch of savages."

Basta said if authorities ever catch the culprits they ought to chain them to what's left of the sign to protect it from further damage.

"I think they should make the signs again," said sales associate Melody Soma. "People like to have pictures taken by them. They attract tourists."

Trouble is, they also attract thieves. Plus, they're not cheap. At $5,000 each a decade ago, the signs were paid for by Hale'iwa merchants and posted along the 2.3-mile Joseph P. Leong bypass south of town, completed in 1995. The signs were meant to be a way to lure motorists off the bypass and into town.

The wood, metal and polyurethane signs were created by former North Shore resident Carole Beller, now of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Last year, Beller, who owns the design, offered to remake the signs for around the original price.

On Thursday, board members of the North Shore Community Chamber of Commerce met to consider options. Suggestions ranged from doing nothing (figuring new signs would just get stolen, too), to coming up with a new design that doesn't emphasize surfing (figuring the allure of surfing is what motivates the thievery).

Before the meeting began, board member John Moore, who owns Strong Current surf shop, said he favored using the chamber's own logo design, which features Hale'iwa's historic Anahulu Stream Bridge.

"We figure if we got rid of the surfer, maybe the surf kids wouldn't want it," said Moore.

But merchant Bill Barnfield, who operates the Raging Isle Surf & Cycle shop, disagreed. He said people all over the world associate the North Shore with surfing. The bridge design doesn't say anything, he said.

"If nobody wants to steal the sign, it's not a good design," said Barnfield, who contended a better idea would be to make the design as attractive as possible but less expensive to replace should it get ripped off.

"What better plug for Hale'iwa than to have one of these signs decorating a dormitory at UCLA," he said. "Then, we just pop in another one on the highway."

After the meeting Antya Miller, chamber administrator, said members agreed that new signs will be posted.

That, she said, seemed to reflect the desires of most local merchants. She said the chamber would begin a search to find a sponsor for the project.

As for the design, Miller said no decision was reached and that the chamber is open to ideas from anyone.

"Basically, what we've talked about is that we're going to have a design contest, probably before the end of the year" she said.

Those interested can contact the chamber at 637-4558 or at www.gonorthshorehawaii.com.