Is it a 'ghost'? Or is it a hoax? NEA says cemetery warning signs tampered with

Netizens were more tickled than spooked when a photo of a sign reportedly installed at a cemetery went viral on social media for its warning against ghost sightings.

In the photo, a warning sign for potential hazards shows an image of a trio of ghosts next to other standard icons, such as a snake and a tree falling.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has confirmed it owns the sign, and said the ghost warning is a prank by vandals.

The icon of a person slipping was covered by a bogus ghost sticker.

A picture of the vandalised sign was first posted on Facebook on Feb 18, with its location said to be Bukit Brown Cemetery, which was officially closed for burials in 1973.

NEA said that after it was alerted to the Facebook post, it conducted inspections at a closed cemetery on Feb 19 and found that several of its other warning signs also had the same sticker pasted on them. It did not confirm if the signs were located at Bukit Brown Cemetery.

“All the stickers have since been removed,” said the statutory board.

This is not the first prank involving an NEA sign.

In 2020, NEA posted on Facebook that there was an image of a pontianak-like figure on a warning sign at a cemetery being circulated on social media, and said it was a hoax.

It said the image of the warning sign had been doctored, and shared an accompanying image of the original warning sign.

Reacting to the latest vandalised signs, one Facebook user Stephen Ong joked that the ghost sign is for people living with a guilty conscience.

Another user Asagi Wan said: “Seen dogs – yes. Seen ghost – no. Want to see them? No, thank you.”

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.