Who Stole the Love?

By Doug Geed

  It's really one of my favorites "downtowns" on Long Island, even though it technically isn't a downtown. I'm talking about Love Lane in Mattituck, on the North Fork.

   Route 25 runs through the heart of the hamlet, but if you make a left turn just as 25 makes a sharp bend to the right, you'll be on a quiet, quaint, picturesque road lined with trees, flags, flower planters, a chocolate shop, a cheese shop, a terrific market that's like something out of New England, a quirky furniture shop on the corner, about a half-dozen other unique shops, and, of course, a post office.

     But what you won't find on this street (that someone referred to as the "Mayberry of Long Island") is the historic street marker "Love Lane." It's a metal sign, heart-shaped, with an arrow through it and it has sat on the corner of Love Lane and Route 25 since the 1970's. But somebody stole it -- twice. It was taken last month but found a few days later in an alley way between stores. The town put it back up, but it was taken again and this time, there's been no "sign" of it.

    The fact that anyone would steal anything from here is shocking enough to residents and shopkeepers, but the fact that it's their beloved little sign makes them even more disappointed. Couples and lovers would often pose for a picture under the camera.

     Southold Town Police Chief  Cochran says for now, his officers don't have a whole lot to go on. Maybe it was a teen-aged prank -- maybe it was a souvenir hunter. But he says in a small town like Southold "people talk. Word gets around." We'll find it, he believes. Let's hope he's right.