Tortoise-crossing sign stolen from Pine Island post office

SAINT JAMES CITY, Fla.- Tortoise fans and neighbors living in Pine Island are angry a tortoise-crossing sign has been stolen from a local post office.

The Saint James Post Office postmaster says the sign was stolen about two weeks ago after it had been in place for longer than one year.

The sign was installed after one of the post office’s resident gopher tortoises was found bleeding with a cracked shell after it had been run over by a car in the parking lot.

The tortoise was taken to the Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) to have its shell repaired before it was returned to its home at the post office, earning the tortoise the nickname “Bondo.”

Although WINK News spotted another gopher tortoise at the post office on Thursday, Bondo has not been seen since the sign disappeared, perhaps to afraid to come out of his hole until the warning sign for drivers is returned.

The United States Postal Service says it hopes someone will donate a new tortoise-crossing sign if the former sign is not brought back to the post office.