Lakewood officials found themselves in tricky territory recently following complaints of political yard signs that violated a village ordinance.

Except for Jamestown and a handful of smaller municipalities, ordinances are in place throughout Chautauqua County that prohibit placing political signs on yards too long before an election. Where the restrictions really benefit, though, is after all votes are cast, when signs become useless and an eyesore.

Without much of a choice, Lakewood officials collected the political yard signs, likely to the dismay of those promoting elected office locally and on the state and federal level. The signs are kept safe at the village hall, and it doesn’t appear fees are assessed until a repeat offense.

By collecting the signs, however, it does beg the question: How many ordinances are on the books that aren’t being enforced on a daily basis just like this one?

There are some bizarre laws on the books that are rarely ever enforced the way they were designed. Sometimes it takes a complaint from a neighbor, whether politics is involved or not, that forces a municipality to take action.

What makes the complaints interesting in Lakewood is that signs are permitted 30 days before the election, in this case Nov. 8. That means signs are permitted Oct. 8, just days after the village’s code enforcement officer was tasked with taking them down.

It may seem silly, or even a waste of time and taxpayer money, to have gone through all the trouble. But it was the right thing to do.

These laws were designed with a specific purpose in mind, and now wasn’t the time to argue its merit.