Honest Ed’s didn’t sign up for this.

Just weeks after someone pilfered a seven-foot-high wooden sign from the bargain centre’s exterior, another, smaller one has been snatched. This time, the store is willing to cough up some serious dough to find out who took it.

“It’s terrible,” general manager Russell Lazar said Saturday morning. “We’ve got to do something about this.”

At the end of April, he announced a $1,000 reward for the safe return of the first lifted sign. He’s now offering $3,000 for the arrest and conviction of the person who stole the two-foot-wide sign from the entranceway Friday night.

Lazar isn’t sure of the exact wording on the freshly smuggled sign, but said it referenced the “Rags to Riches” story about store founder Ed Mirvish hanging below it. The entire display case was shattered and damaged, and Lazar is now grudgingly on cleanup duty. He has reported the incident to police, and officers from 14 Division are investigating.

“These signs are a hot commodity, but I want to discourage people from damaging our property,” he said.

He has not received any updates on the large sign that read “Honest Ed’s Pharmacy professional services since 1960” that was taken April 22. He hopes the higher reward will generate some leads in both cases.

“People gladly pay for these signs, and we’re not going to sit back and do nothing,” Lazar said.