ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Someone keeps stealing the road signs for Route 666 in Morris County. Could it be ... Satan?

County transportation officials don't think so. They believe the signs were stolen by tourists who want offbeat souvenirs and religious people offended by the number, which is associated with Satan in the Bible.

The officials are considering changing the name of the road.

"This thing has got me crazy," said Joseph Stuppiello, a supervisor in the county road department. "Every time we put one up, it doesn't last a day or two before it's stolen."

The problem started in the mid 1970s, when New Jersey officials ordered that all state roads have three digits. Most county governments simply added a "5" or a "6" to the existing road number. Thus Route 66 became Route 666.

"You know, that's the devil," Helen Matola, who lives along the highway, told The Star-Ledger of Newark in Wednesday's editions. "Don't you read the Bible? Six six six. Oh, that's a bad omen."