Olde Towne Landscaping Donates 3rd Set of LOVE Sign Letters to Manassas

by: Rebecca Burnett

MANASSAS, Va. (WDVM) — The severe thunderstorm that damaged much of Northern Virginia destroyed the City of Manassas’ “LOVE sign.”

“The railing collapsed and the letters crashed to the ground and broke,” said Mark Thomas Olsen, owner of Olde Towne Landscaping. “The letters are kind of a fixture in the community and to see it right after they broke was kind of devastating because it had been through derechos, blizzards, other thunderstorms, hurricanes…and it never had a problem.”

Olsen’s company donated the last two sets of LOVE letters and has donated a third. The letters are made of exterior grade plywood and are repainted every couple of years. In 2012, Virginia Tourism tasked the City of Manassas with creating its own LOVE sign. Olsen was part of the project.

The six-month pilot became a beloved city staple.

The old ones couldn’t be saved, but the original letters are on display at the Manassas Museum.