Claim:
San Francisco put up a sign outside a Louis Vuitton store telling thieves any items they steal must cost less than $950.
Rating:
Rating: False
Context:
Although the sign was real and was placed outside a Louis Vuitton store, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Works told Snopes no government entity put it there. Likewise, a spokesperson for the city’s police department told us the sign was unauthorized and later removed.
In mid-October 2024, an X user resurfaced a photo purportedly showing a street sign outside a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco that read: “NOTICE. STOLEN GOODS MUST REMAIN UNDER $950.”
Other users who replied to the image appeared to believe the sign was real, with one writing: “That is truly amazing. I am speechless.” Another asked: “STFU…. this is real?!?!?”
(X user @DavidBCollum)
The picture previously appeared on X, in June 2024, when one user asked: “Is this sign for real? Is San Francisco really this far gone?”
The sign appeared to reference Proposition 47, Californian legislation that turned thefts of goods worth less than $950 into misdemeanors in 2014.
(@WallStreetSilv / X)
Another X user who shared the image said it showed “theft is now fully legalized” in San Francisco, while a third claimed it was an “average” San Francisco street sign.
Together, the posts suggested the sign was official and had amassed more than 9.2 million views as of this writing.
Similar claims appeared elsewhere on X, and on Instagram, Reddit and YouTube.
However, although the sign was real — in that it was actually erected outside a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco — a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Department of Public Works (SFDPW) told Snopes in summer 2024 it was not put there by a government entity. Likewise, the city’s police department — the SFPD — told us the sign was unauthorized and removed, which is why we have deemed this claim false.
SFDPW’s director of policy and communications, Rachel Gordon, said via email the signs had nothing to do with the city and county of San Francisco.
“The reported signs were not installed by a government entity,” she explained.
Gordon said her department did not know who placed the signs outside the Louis Vuitton store.
When asked whether San Francisco allows people to steal goods with a value of less than $950, she replied: “Of course not.”
Thr Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district. (Getty Images)
Meanwhile, public information officer Robert Rueca of the SFPD said via email the unofficial sign had been taken down.
“We can confirm that this unauthorized sign was posted and was immediately removed upon discovery,” he said.
“California does not have a law that allows for theft,” Rueca added, citing Proposition 47, which stated (on page 27): “Proposition 47 amends various provisions of the Penal and Health and Safety Codes to reduce personal possession drug offenses and thefts involving less than $950 from a straight felony or a ‘wobbler,’ to a straight misdemeanor.”
It appears the fake sign was erected as a satirical swipe at that law.
In July 2021, Snopes debunked claims that Proposition 47 lets thieves steal goods with a value of less than $950.
Sources:
Evon, Dan. ‘Did Prop 47 Legalize Theft Under $950 in California?’ Snopes, 21 July 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/prop-47-theft-california/.
PROPOSITION 47 ‘The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act’. California Courts, The Judicial Branch of California, May 2017, https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/Prop-47-Information.pdf.
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