We’re a nation, state, county and city of laws. The only way our society works as well as it does is if everyone agrees to abide by those laws or pay the consequences.

Late last week, we saw a blatant disregard for the City of Natchez’s rules by the city’s newest tenant — Magnolia Bluffs Casino.

The casino took it upon itself to erect signs directing would-be gamblers to the foot of Roth Hill Road.

It’s understandable that the casino would seek to have directional signs. Their location is practically hidden, particularly to people unfamiliar with Natchez, so we get it. Signs are vitally important.

But opting to erect its own signs in the historic district without the city’s permission is inexcusable.

One would have thought that the multi-million dollar investment would have included the obvious need for signage from the early planning stages.

Even if casino developers somehow missed the need for signs in the years of planning and development, the casino has been in operation for nearly three months.

That should have been plenty of time to work through the proper city channels to get signs approved.

Instead, it seems, casino operators opted to simply take matters into their own hands, disregarding city code as well as city requests to remove the signs.

Then, to add insult to injury, casino managers had the gall to put the signs back up on Saturday after the city took them down Friday.

Mayor Butch Brown assures us, he’ll work with the casino on a resolution and implied he’ll make them pay a penalty for the blatant disregard for the city’s laws. Brown seems to have more patience on the matter than we would.

Clearly the casino needs signs, but more importantly, it needs to respect the city (and its laws) which it now calls home.