The Mississippi Blues Trail marker on Money Road - which honors the life and legacy of bluesman Robert Johnson - has been stolen.
"We learned about it today," said Allan Hammons Friday.
Hammons is the president and chief executive officer of Hammons & Associates, which has helped to develop the markers as part of the Mississippi Blues Trail.
While the marker is styled similar to other historical markers, it features a vinyl insert on one side, which includes photos and maps of significance to the person being honored.
Hammons put the price tag on the missing marker at around $8,000 and said its theft constitutes grand larceny of state property.
Hammons said the marker's disappearance has been reported to the Leflore County Sheriff's Department.
He said he also hopes to enlist the aid of the state's powerful political leaders to bring attention to the marker's theft.
"This is state-owned property. I want to have the governor weigh-in on this - to see if people will come forward, help recover the marker, and find out the identity (of the thief or thieves)," Hammons said.
The Johnson marker - even before it was unveiled to the public for the first time at a ceremony on May 16 - had been shot once with "00" buckshot and had been successfully repaired, Hammons said.
It was shot a second time, and repaired yet again, he said.
This time, Hammons said, the marker's base was apparently shattered with a sledgehammer once the pole supporting it was removed from the ground.
The marker, by itself, weighs close 90 pounds, Hammons said.
Last weekend, the Emmett Till Memorial Highway sign on U.S. 49 was discovered missing.
Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed while visiting relatives in Money on Aug. 28, 1955, after he reportedly whistled at a white woman.
The 38-mile stretch of highway was named in memory of Till in 2005.
Hammons said he believes the Johnson marker may be either in an "affluent person's garage or resting at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River. Either way, this is a significant dollar loss."
It also could have been the victim of some "kids hell-bent to destroy things," he said.
"It's real discouraging to me that this is the only one that this has happened to," Hammons said.
He said 16 Blues Trail markers have already been installed around the state. In all, about 120 blues markers are planned.
