Police are investigating the theft of the street signs put up at the entrance to Harbour St, as part of the Waitaki District Council's trial closure of the tourist spot to vehicles on weekends.
The trial closure is part of a council project which seeks to improve traffic and pedestrian flow around the Victorian precinct, especially Harbour St, where the council believes there are safety risks for pedestrians in the single-lane street.
The trial was scheduled to run from February 18 to May 1.
Sergeant Tony Woodbridge, of Oamaru, said the street signs, usually stored at the Criterion Hotel, were reported as stolen on Saturday morning.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said road cones used instead of the signs were then moved a few metres away from where they should have been to stop traffic accessing the street where a public function was taking place.
He said the sign theft and moving the cones were the actions of ''a fool'' that put people's safety at risk.
Mr Kircher said he did not have any vested interest in the result of the trial, but the Oamaru community had and over the years different bodies backed away from the possibility of closing the road.
''This is the test if it works.''
Smaller cones and a pedestrian sign were eventually put up, but the tiny barricade did not stop cars, Donna Demente, who had organised a street party, said.
She said cars still came down the street and crept past her function.
The council needed to install bollards or a much bigger block than two small road cones if the trial was to be fair, she said.
Police were checking the CCTV footage.
