Sign dismantled for disrespectfully ordering minister around

Local authorities on Monday dismantled a stop sign on a main thoroughfare in the capital after a top government official took offence, condemning its treatment of him and his convoy as though they were ordinary citizens.

“The convoy was driving normally when I noticed a red sign that said ‘Stop,’ so I ordered the driver to stop immediately,” the minister said in a press conference. “Not to obey the sign, mind you, but because I could not comprehend how some silly sign thought it fit to challenge me and order me to simply stop like that. The instructions were not even preceded by ‘Your Excellency.’”

Municipal officials immediately ordered the removal of the sign and opened an investigation to identify those responsible for placing it in the minister’s way. A local government source said the sign would likely be melted into scrap metal as a warning to any future road signs.

The municipality will also launch a campaign to remove all similar signs from roads frequented by government officials, in order to prevent any delays on the road to reform and progress.

A government spokesman lauded the swift action of local authorities.

“That’s how it all starts,” he said. “A sign erected on a metal phallus addresses us with disrespect today and before we know it the prestige of the whole state will be lost.”