A vandal of sorts attacks 40 stop signs, before hidden cameras catch them on tape. Now highway crews are working to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Three months ago, 575 new stop signs arrived in Clark County thanks to a $46,000 state grant.

"We really do want the upgrade to work because of the brightness of it," says Clark County Highway Commissioner Randy Anderson.

But, turns out someone else also wanted to have a part of the shiny new signs.

"The first two, three, four inches were being peeled off," Anderson says.

But by just who, stumped the Clark County highway commissioner crew for months.

"It was very annoying,” Anderson says laughing. “We’ve never had this problem before."

Here's the thing: Workers ruled out a chemical reaction, they tried switching the poles and there were no tracks leading up to the sign. That's when someone said it had to be a bird.

"We discounted that theory real quick. But, then we set up cameras and happened to catch the blue jays on camera," Anderson says.

That's right, turns out a bunch blue jays are the Clark County culprits!

“We caught the little villains in the act!” Anderson says.

Anderson had his proof, but what about answers?

"I have a couple of total guesses,” says Ruth Forsgren, a naturalist at Beaver Creek Reserve. “One is that they quite often will collect shiny things and use it for decoration. They’ve also documented blue jays eating paint, usually off houses and always in winter, so they’re guessing they’re deficient in some nutrient. Or maybe it's just a Clark County phenomenon??"

Either way, Clark County had some fixing up to do.

"We’re just going to take this molding and set it on the top edge of the signs so our little blue jay buddies can't get their beaks between," Anderson says.

He hopes that will keep the stop signs safe... and drivers, too.

"Luckily it wasn’t a larger bird that could reach down further or the problem would have been a lot more serious a lot sooner," he says.

A bird of a feather that maybe doesn't flock together.

"I e-mailed the other 71 counties and they have not heard of another county that’s had this. They really like the Clark County signs,” Anderson says with a laugh. “They know I have a tight budget!"

Andersen tells us, he's working with 3M, the company that made the shiny signs to try and keep the feathered felons away... permanently.