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You know things are going downhill when even clowns can’t take a joke.

On the other hand, maybe only clowns know how serious a joke can be.

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A small sign put up as a joke in the City Lights Bookshop in London, Ont. sparked a three-ring circus of two angry clowns, two frustrated bookstore employees, and two bicycle-riding police officers Thursday afternoon.

The sign: a clown face with a diagonal bar across it. In other words, No Clowns Allowed.

The sign has been in the store for years. With all the fuss over creepy clowns lately, store co-owner Teresa Tarasewicz said she put it up as a joke.

“We’re a light-hearted place,” she said. “We are the clowns inside this place.”

Professional clown Buttons Blammo — Brian Currie in his non-clown life — didn’t find it funny and vowed he wouldn’t stand for it — even in his oversized shoes.

Accompanied by Lulu Pullitzor Palooza (Lori Ackerman in non-clown life), Blammo showed up at the store with a fat green marker and began writing on the store window.