Someone has stolen pieces of Renton’s history. About 3 1/2 weeks ago, authentic pieces of coal from a city coal mine were taken from a sign at the base of the historic Renton Hill neighborhood.

The sign is one of two unveiled May 2009 at the foot of the Cedar Avenue South Interstate 405 overpass and the Renton Avenue South overpass at Interstate 405. They were the culmination of a project by the Renton Hill Neighborhood Association to pay tribute to the city and replace a former sign made from a downtown old-growth tree.

Worth $2,500 each, the signs were funded by a grant from the City of Renton Neighborhood Program.

“There is broad support and deep emotions,” said Dan Hemenway, former Renton Hill Neighborhood Association president and sign committee member, about community interest in the signs. “Something from all of us was taken.”

Hemenway received hundreds of emails from people and even a call from a former Renton mayor praising the project when it was under construction. Families connected to the mine and former brick plant in Renton were thrilled about the dedication to local history, he said.

The coal, which sat in an enclosure in the sign, was collected from the former mine entrance, which started operations in 1875. Authentic brick is also used in the signs but was not damaged when the coal went missing. The signs took three years to design and construct and “we sweated every detail,” Hemenway said.

It will take about $300 to replace the enclosure, which Hemenway expects will have to come through donations. He does have some more coal, but the best pieces were the missing pieces. He is hoping that it gets returned and is asking whoever took it to drop it behind the sign, even if it is damaged.

“It’s really a shame someone would do this,” Hemenway said. “It’s painfully disrespectful to the memory of the miners and their families and an embarrassment to those who have a rightful place in Renton’s heritage.”