The City of Ottawa is working to replace the street sign for Trump Avenue after it appeared in a Facebook Marketplace listing less than a week after going missing.
The sign located in Ottawa’s Central Park neighbourhood at the intersection of Trump and Whitestone went missing sometime during the night between Thursday and Friday. The other signs at the intersections of Trump and Bloomingdale and Trump and Celebration remained on their respective poles.
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The sign disappeared only days after Coun. Riley Brockington introduced a motion before city council to begin the process of renaming Trump Avenue, saying he would work with residents on the street to determine a new name that would be presented to council next year. The motion was carried by councillors unanimously.
On Monday, CTV News Ottawa was made aware of a Facebook Marketplace listing that had been posted with the missing sign, advertising it as a “rare find” with an asking price of $700. Later in the day, the sign was marked as “sold.”
CTV News Ottawa has not verified the legitimacy of the listing, but the sign appears to match the one that went missing.
Video obtained by CTV News Ottawa appears to show a pair of individuals climbing a pole to steal the sign.
In a statement, the City of Ottawa says it is aware of reports that the missing sign “may have been sold online” and has filed a formal police report with the Ottawa Police Service.
Ottawa police confirmed it had received the report and was investigating, but did not provide further information.
The City of Ottawa says a work order was issued to begin the replacement process for the sign.
“As this is a custom street name sign, it must be manufactured to order. Staff are working to replace the sign and will continue to monitor the replacement,” an email from Krista Tanaka, director of traffic services for the City of Ottawa, said.
The street name has been the centre of controversy for several years for its connection to the U.S. president but it was recently reignited after his re-election and amid a tariff war with the United States.
Streets in the area are all connected to famous New York City landmarks. When the neighbourhood was developed in the 1990s and the streets were named, Trump was a famous real estate developer. Other street names nearby include Central Park Drive, Manhattan Crescent, Staten Way and Grammercy Park.
Despite Brockington’s desire to see the street name changed, he says he was disappointed to see the sign went missing. The city councillor says the city cannot wait for the name to be changed to replace the sign because of its importance for emergencies and other services.
“Street signage and street sign blades are installed for a reason. Street sign blades, of course, are needed for emergency response, wayfinding purposes, deliveries on the street. So, we need the street signs up,” Brockington said.
“If people are interested in buying their own street sign blade, we can look into that possibility, but we can’t take them off the poles. They’re needed.”
A strong effort in 2021 was made to change the name, but it failed after a vote among residents ended in a tie, with about a third abstaining.
Brockington said he will form a working group with residents and will look at a number of New York City street-themed options, as well as options that have no connection with New York City, which will be presented to Trump Avenue residents to vote on.
He hopes a new name will be decided on by Christmas.
“This will be a fair process, a transparent process, and we will take the time we need to get it right and do it well,” he said.
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Ted Raymond
