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Grammar vandals fined for altering historic sign

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, both 28, had spent this spring travelling across the United States correcting errors on government signposts.

The pair set up the Typo Eradication Advancement League and were interviewed by National Public Radio and the Chicago Tribune, which referred to them as "a pair of Kerouacs armed with Sharpies and erasers and righteous indignation".

Their brush with fame brought about their downfall, however, after investigators looked up their web page.

A diary entry by Mr Deck said they had visited the Desert View Watchtower in Grand Canyon national park and "discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors".

Using a marker, he replaced an erroneous apostrophe and added a comma to the yellow lettering on a black fibreboard sign.

However, the pair did not realise the sign had been made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who built the watchtower and other landmarks in the Grand Canyon area.

Read entire article at Telegraph