The main stretch of asphalt that cuts across northwestern New Mexico's desolate mesas is living out its final days as the Devil's Highway, but drivers would not necessarily know it.
That is because not a single sign labeling it as U.S. 666 remains from Gallup to the Colorado border.
''Since the reports that we were changing the name, we virtually had everything stolen. It was a feeding frenzy,'' said S. U. Mahesh, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
All that is left of the signs are sheared metal stubs along the two-lane highway.
Since the black-and-white signs were welded to the metal poles, transportation officials suspect that people are crashing into the poles, breaking them so they can make off with the signs.
''I don't know what they were thinking,'' Mr. Mahesh said. ''I don't know the fascination of people stealing signs. It is state property, and it is a crime.''
Other than the U.S. 666 signs, New Mexico transportation officials have had trouble over the years keeping signs up for U.S. 66, the historic roadway that cuts across the middle of the state.
Fifteen to 20 signs along New Mexico's 100-mile stretch of U.S. 666 are missing.
The highway runs 194 miles from Gallup north through southwestern Colorado and west to Monticello, Utah. Colorado and Utah transportation officials also reported a rash of sign thefts since the American Association of State Highway and Transportation changed the number to 491 from 666 in June.
Officials from all three states applied for the number change because of the old number's negative connotation.
In the Bible, the Book of Revelation says 666 is the ''number of the beast,'' usually interpreted as Satan or the Antichrist. The highway has often been called the Devil's Highway.
Missing signs in all three states have been a problem since the highway was built decades ago, but a Colorado transportation spokeswoman, Nancy Shanks, said more signs started disappearing after the news of the number change.
''We don't have a single 666 sign left,'' she said.
Someone with a chainsaw took five of the signs that lined Utah's short stretch of the highway.
''I guess because we're changing the name they became a collector's item in some people's minds,'' Nile Easton, a spokesman for Utah's transportation department, said. ''And it is an odd number.''
''I wouldn't be surprised to see them on eBay,'' Mr. Easton added.
EBay, the Internet auction site, lists more than 300 666 items, including T-shirts, CD's, comics books and three signs that the seller advertises as ''original, legally obtained road signs.''
''This is not a cheap mock up or knock off,'' the advertisement states. ''It is the real deal guaranteed without the hassles of chancing a federal offense for stealing government property.''
The seller did not respond to an e-mail message.
New Mexico transportation officials said they had no idea who took the signs, but said they were curious about the eBay listings.
''We have to investigate it,'' Mr. Mahesh of the New Mexico Department of Transportation said.
