Thieves stripped a decades-old porcelain Goodyear sign from Ira's Tire Shop on Oklahoma City Boulevard sometime overnight between Aug. 19 and Aug. 20, owner Justin Smith told KOCO.

Smith arrived at work Thursday morning and saw the outline of lettering where the sign had hung for as long as anyone at the shop can remember. The vintage porcelain piece features the old-style Goodyear "foot" design, and Smith said comparable signs sell for between $5,000 and $15,000 based on his research.

The shop has no cameras.

Smith, whose family has run the business at 301 S. Hudson Ave. since 1937, believes the thieves used a ladder or stood on a truck bed to pop the sign off the building. Without surveillance footage, he said there are no leads on who took it.

Oklahoma City police have not confirmed a formal theft report in the case.

Three generations on the same corner

Smith's grandfather Ira and Ira's brother built the shop at its current location in the mid-1950s. Smith said he used to sweep the floors there as a kid. Long-time customers have told him the Goodyear sign had been on the building as far back as they could recall.

A 2012 Journal Record article reported the shop was expected to close to make way for the downtown convention center development, but the business is still operating more than a decade later.

Community appeal

Smith posted about the theft on Facebook shortly after discovering it and has since removed another sign from the building to prevent a repeat. He said he is grateful for the community response and asked anyone with information to contact the shop or Oklahoma City police.