VIDALIA, La. — What vandals picked last summer from the Vidalia Garden Club’s Yard of the Month on Charles Street wasn’t a prize-winning plant. Instead, it was the custom-carved wooden sign the 45-member club used to designate what it judged as the town’s best-kept yard each month.

And they want it back.

Since it was taken, club members have called the Vidalia Police Department and Town Hall and questioned almost everyone they know in town — like they’ve done many times before. &uot;We’ve had one sign or another since the 1950s,&uot;&160;said Anne Dyer, a club member for more than 30 years. &uot;The kids think it’s a joke to take it a put it places.&uot;

In the past, those places have included the Natchez City Cemetery, various yards around town, schoolyards and even the sign maker’s front door. The club has had its current sign for more than two years, Dyer said. But this time, they have gotten no leads on the sign’s takers or its whereabouts, said Publicity Chairman Julie Rogers.

&uot;It cost us $300 to have made, and we would hate to have to put out that kind of money again,&uot;&160;Rogers said.

The club isn’t in existence to turn a profit, said Rogers, and only gets money for its projects from club dues and flower bulb sales. So replacing the sign, she added, &uot;would definitely be a big hit to our budget.&uot;

Since the sign was stolen, the club’s Yard of the Month has not been designated by any sign. &uot;All we’ve done since then is run announcements in the paper,&uot;&160;Rogers said.

The club asks anyone with information about the whereabouts of the sign, which is 3 feet by 2 feet and has a flower logo on it, to call Dyer at 336-7667.