ITD had to replace a welcome sign covered in stickers. They auctioned it for $11,200.

Dozens of travelers headed north from Nevada on U.S. 93 left their mark on one of Idaho’s giant blue-and-white welcome signs.

Stickers of all shapes, sizes and colors, as well as and some graffiti, blotted out the words on the 8-by-4-foot sign. That took some effort, as the sign was on an 8-foot-high post.

“Once people start seeing a few stickers, then they think that it’s a receptacle for all stickers,” Idaho Transportation Department spokesman Reed Hollinshead told the Statesman.

State officials decided that it was time to replace the sign this summer. They knew there was strong public interest in the covered sign, so they decided to put it up for auction on their website.

The auction ran from Sept. 12-26, and 12 people submitted bids, Hollinshead said. The top offer was $4,500 until the last day, when there was a bidding war between two people. The top bidder, who asked ITD not to release their name, paid $11,200 for the sign.

That’s enough to cover the cost of 50 welcome signs — each costs about $224. Transportation officials plan to use the money raised in the auction on a safety or innovation project in that area.

To discourage travelers from leaving stickers on the new welcome sign, they have put up a second, Idaho-shaped sign that’s designated for that purpose. It’s on a 4-foot post, so people don’t have to stand on their car to reach it.

The new welcome sign was installed on July 25.

Auctioning off a sign, rather than just scrapping it, might be something ITD does again.

“We’re in an environment where we have limited budget, and we’re trying to stretch taxpayer dollars where we can,” Hollinshead said.