Giacomo Bologna

GBOLOGNA@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Lisa Schwarz emphasized she was not the person who put the "Home of Jason Bourne" sign below the sign welcoming drivers to the city of Nixa on Massey Boulevard.

But she does think it's funny.

Funny enough that when she saw it Sunday afternoon, Schwarz said, she turned her car around and stopped so her daughter could snap a photo.

Jason Bourne is the main character of several novels that have been adapted into a film series. According to the fictional series, Bourne originally hails from Nixa. The fifth installment in the franchise hit theaters last month to middling reviews, but people seem to like the sign in Nixa.

Schwarz posted the photo of the sign to Facebook yesterday, and it already's been shared by dozens of people.

"We've joked about it for years," she said of the fictional character's heritage.

Not everyone's laughing, though — namely the Missouri Department of Transportation.

“It’s not unsafe, but we really discourage people from tampering with or vandalizing road signs,” MoDOT spokeswoman Angela Eden. “It is breaking the law.”

Maintenance for MoDOT will be contacted, she said, and the sign is coming down.

Eden also said people should not take selfies with the sign.