The removal of protest signs more than a week ago from a Hardy Park fence leaves a whodunit. But one city agency provided a clue about who didn’t do it.

“I’m unable to find any information to suggest that MPD removed the signs,” a Metropolitan Police Department public affairs specialist, Alaina Gertz, told Potomac Times in an email Monday.

MPD and the Department of Public Works enforce the city’s regulations on posters in public, according to a Special Order on Illegal Posters In Public Space. It’s unclear whether those regulations, which set strict guidelines for such posters, played any role in the removal of the signs. The signs, posted at a Park entrance, were removed sometime over the weekend of Oct. 16.

DPW did not respond to a Potomac Times request for comment about the fate of the signs, which focused on a city government plan to build on Hardy Park land a $61-million elementary school. Many signs still remain in people’s yards.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees Hardy Park, located at Q Street and Foxhall Road in the Palisades area, did not respond to a Potomac Times request for comment.

The city recently completed a $5.7-million renovation of the Park. Nearby residents have voiced concern about loss of greenspace should a school be built there. They’ve also questioned the need for a new school building. The city early this year bought a private school campus located a half-block away, a site that now sits empty.

Regarding signs, DPW states on its website that “Washington, DC, has a no tolerance position toward the illegal posting of materials in public spaces and urges residents to help spread the word. If you spot questionable posters on public property, such as on walls or poles, call at 311.”

DPW has removed political signs, according to Washington City Paper. The newspaper reported in an April 2020 article that DPW workers took down dozens of campaign signs of Ward 4 City Council challenger and eventual winner Janeese Lewis George. The newspaper reported DPW said the action was a mistake.

Official Sign Language

The MPD Special Order of 2001 casts a wide net.

“Many residents have expressed their displeasure about posters, signs, and placards being affixed to public property,” states the preamble to the Order, signed by Charles H. Ramsey, the former police chief. “These signs deface public property and contribute to a sense of disorder, which promotes criminal activity, and creates fear in the community.”

The Order gives examples of what’s not allowed, including “record company signs, signs advertising cell phones, events at night clubs, employment opportunities, construction services, carpet cleaning services, weight loss signs, and similar postings.”

Meanwhile, “Legal posters are signs that do not deal with the sale of goods or services. Examples of legal posters include public service announcements, civic meetings, neighborhood assemblies, citizen march events, political draft committee posters, and similar postings.”

But it’s no free-for-all. Two copies of all versions of such posters must be filed with Public Space Permit Office within 24 hours of posting, can be posted for up to 60 days and must carry a date stamp.

The Order goes on to detail regulations for spacing of signs, attachment and decency standards, violator processing, fines and recordkeeping.

Signs at Hardy Park that advertise an education program coming to Glover Park remained in place after the protest signs were removed. One was posted at the base of the Park entrance fence that held the protest signs.

The D.C. Board of Elections also has rules for campaign posters. The agency states: “In general, campaign signs, posters, and placards are permitted on public property, but a permit is required from the Department of Transportation Public Space Permitting Center.”