Under the headline ‘Roscrea Traders urged to watch their Es’, the following story recently appeared in the Midland Tribune. We are happy to reprint the piece in the spirit of public service journalism.

“Traders in Roscrea are being urged to be vigilant in light of the fact that the letter ‘E’ has been stolen from signs over a number of shops in recent weeks.

“Gardai confirmed to the Midland Tribune on Tuesday morning last that there have been a number of incidents reported in recent weeks by traders who have arrived to their premises in the morning to discover that the letter ‘E’ is missing from outside their shop.

“Local Gardai are investigating the incidents and it is believed that some of the letters have been recovered dumped in various locations.

“A similar story was reported in the National media during last year when letter Es were vanishing from businesses throughout Dublin. It was suggested at that time that the answer to the mystery in Dublin was that they were being taken for rave parties where E tablets were being consumed. Although a similar situation is not being mentioned in Roscrea, it is certainly strange that the same letter is being targeted in a number of local incidents.”