Give Me a ‘T’: Students Stealing Bevy of Letters on Georgia Tech Campus

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Here's one 'T' that can't be stolen.

Georgia Tech students just can’t get enough of basic reading and writing, it seems. But all that fervor over a certain letter in the alphabet causes an arithmetic problem for the school. Theft of every possible ‘T’ off Georgia Tech buildings, signs and receptacles has cost the school over $100,000 in repairs.

The tradition of thievery of Tech’s ‘T’ started in the 1960s, when students started pilfering the letter off Tech Tower. But only one ‘T’ doesn’t go far, so students at the Atlanta school have gotten a touch greedy lately. CBS Atlanta reports the ‘T’ has already gone missing from a brand-new building and can’t be found on smaller items either, such as the book return bins in front of the school’s library.

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With repair costs piling up, school officials are practically begging students to stop the incessant pranking and student leaders instituted an amnesty program in the hopes of getting some of the ill-fated letters back in the proper hands (and proper buildings).

You know what else starts with a ‘T’ that could be the result of all this mischief? Yup — ‘T’uition hikes.

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Tim Newcomb is a contributor for TIME. Find him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.