GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A 16-year employee of the Green Bay Water Utility says he took a temporary street sign named for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a dare and didn't intend to steal it.

Water Utility General Manager Bill Nabak says 47-year-old Thomas S. Hodkiewicz of Green Bay has been placed on paid leave while the matter is sorted out.

Hodkiewicz was arrested and cited for theft about 2 a.m. Saturday after a police officer spotted in the sign in a car in the area.

Hodkiewicz tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette that he planned to take the sign down and take pictures of it then put it back. Looking back, he says, "I was just an idiot."

Last week, Mayor Jim Schmitt temporarily renamed Minnesota Avenue in Rodgers' honor in the run-up to the Vikings-Packers game.

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Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)