One Cambridge couple's attempt to keep people from parking in their driveway across from Hilles Library resulted in the theft of their gate this weekend.

The couple, John R. Levine and Lydia S. Spitzer, said they suspect intoxicated Harvard students may have stolen the gate from their Shepard St. home late Saturday night to use as a room decoration. The wooden gate is known by some in the Quad for its sign that reads, "Do not even think of parking here."

Street signs and gates have been common targets of thieves this year, according to Harvard University Police records. A wooden "Harvard Neighbors" sign was stolen from the wall of 17 Quincy St. in September, according to police records. And signs and wooden control arms at the Apley Court parking lot have been stolen or vandalized at least three times this month.

'Good Neighbors'

"By and large, Harvard students are pretty good neighbors," Levine said, except for some "hooting and hollering." But he added that he suspected the theft was a college prank.

In a letter to The Crimson, Spitzer said when she was in college she telephoned a fake bomb threat "as a joke in honor of Guy Fawkes' Day." But she said jokes can get out of hand. Because of the missing four-foot-high gate, her dog escaped Sunday morning and was almost hit by a car, she said in the letter.

In place of the heavy wooden gate, Levine and Spitzer have posted a hand-lettered sign reading, "Please bring our gate back. It protects the dog from getting hit by a car and will cost us hundreds of dollars to replace. Please, please, give it back."

In an effort to convince the thief to return the sign, Spitzer said in the letter, "I'll find a new 'no parking' sign and give it gladly to anyone who'll bring the gate and the sign back, if it's the sign that's wanted."