ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A decision last month to renumber Devil's Highway from U.S. 666 to U.S. 491 was a godsend for New Mexico entrepreneur John Sojourner.

The Albuquerque man sold dozens of U.S. 666 highway signs on eBay in recent weeks before stumbling into his own bit of hell.

Sojourner said he was hit with a barrage of e-mail from strangers last weekend. He said some of the e-mail accused him of stealing the signs off roadside posts in western New Mexico, where at least 15 of the signs have vanished in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the Internet auction site took down his listings and warned him not to repost pending the results of a state investigation.

New Mexico transportation officials said Monday their probe into Sojourner's signs found they weren't stolen. In fact, they're much smaller than the real roadside signs.