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'Don't contribute to the problem': Dixie Highway sign discourages panhandling

The sign is outside the Kroger on Dixie Highway and has been since summer of 2018.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There’s a sign on Dixie Highway getting a lot of attention and WHAS11 is tracking down where it came from.

The sign reads "don't contribute to the problem" and encourages drivers not to hand over money to panhandlers.

It’s in front of Kroger on Dixie Highway and asks drivers to "call LMPD to report illegal panhandling".

So who put it there?

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After some digging WHAS11 found it was Kroger who put up the signs last summer.      

A representative from the company told us the company worked with the Metro Council representative at the time, in hopes of discouraging panhandling on the property.

RELATED: 'Don't Support Panhandling' signs working in Elizabethtown, police say

That is a similar tactic to one being used in E-town- where police put up signs warning drivers not to give out their change.

"It's a sort of thing that becomes an issue for a while and then we kind of lose consciousness of it. We want to keep revisiting this issue. Keep educating the public”, John Thomas, with E-Town Police, said.

They also said it’s the best option for enforcement.

RELATED: 4th Street business owners upset over increase in aggressive panhandling

A 2017 Supreme Court Ruling defined panhandling as a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, meaning police can't correct the panhandlers but can offer suggestions for the people behind the wheel.

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