Stolen sign returned to Houston garage

A quick update on the story of the antique sign stolen from a Garden Oaks-area auto garage: The Chronicle reports today that the sign was returned to its home yesterday, intact but a little the worse for wear.

The sign, which had been posted on the front of the Adolf Hoepfl & Son Garage on North Shepherd for about 50 years, was ripped off Jan. 19 by a crowbar-wielding thief. It found its way to a sign collector, who bought it and hung it in his garage. Then, this weekend, he read the story in the Chron about the sign having been stolen: "He said he was eating breakfast Saturday when he saw the article in the newspaper and he almost choked to death," Kathryn van der Pol, who owns the garage with her husband, said. The collector — who didn't want to be identified — returned the sign to the van der Pols and turned down the reward they offered him, saying "he would get his reward upstairs."

Van der Pol said she and her husband are reluctant to put the sign, which features red stripes on a white background and the slogan "You Get Personalized Service Where You See This Emblem," in its former place on the front of the building. Instead, she said they might have a reproduction made for the exterior and keep the original in the lobby.