PORTLAND, Ore. — A series of bright orange signs with the City of Portland seal and two official city codes cited at the bottom appeared near Portland State University earlier this week.
They claimed there's "no camping or loitering on this property. Offenders will be arrested."
The signs certainly look official, so we wanted to Verify: Are these signs real?
Our source for this story is Heather Hafer with the city's Office of Management and Finance.
She says the bureau's rapid response team found a handful of these flyers Wednesday around SW 4th Avenue and Caruthers Street.
Hafer said the signs are not connected to the city in any way. In fact, this isn't the first time non-city issued "no camping" signs have been posted, but this is the first time the city's official seal and ordinance was included.
The poster cites city ordinance 14A.50.020, which states camping is prohibited on public property and public rights of way, as well as ordinance 20.12.080, which states no one can create a permanent or temporary structure in any park.
But just last fall, KGW News reported ordinance 14A.50.020 is no longer being enforced by Portland Police following a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, saying a city cannot prosecute homeless people for sleeping on streets if they have nowhere else to go.
According to officials, the city does clear camps that present public safety or sanitation hazards.
The City of Portland's real signs don't cite ordinances and give campers between 48 hours and 10 days to clear the area.
We can Verify: The orange signs like the one posted above are fake and not endorsed by the city in any way.
In fact, Portland Police were called to the area when the fake signs were first posted and tried to find who was responsible, without any luck.
Here is what the city's official notice looks like:
Anyone who wants to report a campsite should use the One Point of Contact report form: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/69333 or email reportpdx@portlandoregon.gov.
