This undated photo shows the new 419.99 mile marker that replaces the 420 mile marker after multiple thefts.CDOT 
 
 Colorado officials are hoping the difference of one-hundredth of a mile will curb thefts of highway markers after the 420 mile marker sign along Interstate 70 was targeted multiple times. 
 
 Amy Ford of the Colorado Department of Transportation says the "MILE 420" sign near Stratton was stolen for the last time sometime in the last year, and officials replaced it with a sign that says "MILE 419.99." 
 
 The number "420" has long been associated with marijuana, though its origins as shorthand for pot are murky. 
 
 Ford says it's the only "420" sign to be replaced in the state that recently legalized recreational marijuana. Most highways aren't long enough to need one. 
 
 “Obviously people steal these signs,” Ford said, the Denver Post reported. “In the past, if a sign was stolen too much we wouldn’t replace it. This is sort of an innovative way for us to keep the sign there,” she said. 
 
 Mile 419.99, about 25 miles from the Kansas border, isn't the only place in Colorado with a fractional mile marker. Cameron Pass in Larimer County has a "MILE 68.5" sign after frequent thefts of the "MILE 69" sign. 
 
 Click for more from The Denver Post. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

 DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials think a difference of one-hundredth of a mile will be enough to stop thieves from stealing the mile marker 420 sign along Interstate 70. 
 
 Amy Ford of the Colorado Department of Transportation says the "MILE 420" sign near Stratton was stolen for the last time sometime in the last year, and officials replaced it with a sign that says "MILE 419.99." 
 
 Ford says it's the only "420" sign to be replaced in the state that recently legalized recreational marijuana. Most highways aren't long enough to need one. 
 
 The number "420" has long been associated with marijuana, though its origins as a shorthand for pot are murky. 
 
 Mile 419.99, about 25 miles from the Kansas border, isn't the only place in Colorado with a fractional mile marker. Cameron Pass in Larimer County has a "MILE 68.5" sign after frequent thefts of the "MILE 69" sign.
– On Interstate 70 in Colorado, the sign marking mile 420 kept getting stolen by what the Denver Post calls "sticky-fingered stoners." Now, Colorado, which recently legalized recreational pot, has come up with what it calls an "innovative solution" to the problem: There's no more 420 sign on the highway at all. Instead, the state's transportation department has installed a sign marking mile 419.99, the Post reports. The number 420 has long been linked to marijuana for reasons that aren't totally clear, the AP notes. (By the way, if you're looking for the "Mile 69" sign on Larimer County's Cameron Pass, you may be disappointed: It's been replaced with "Mile 68.5," Fox News reports.)