OXFORD residents can now take a stroll down WTF Lane, thanks to a mysterious artist placing a series of fake road signs around the city.

The anonymous man, calling himself ‘A34’ on Twitter, says the work is an attempt to mirror the ‘illusion’ of social media.

But the illusion may not last long, with the city council saying that they will remove the signs and describing them as a ‘waste’.

Around 20 road signs have so far appeared across the city - including Selfie Passage, Hashtag Walk and Lol Alley - though some appear to have already vanished.

Oxford Mail:

It is the latest project for an ‘interventionist artist’ thought to be in his 40s and behind doctored signs in Didcot, which directed drivers to Middle Earth, Narnia and Gotham City in March.

Claiming to have used various aliases and living in Oxfordshire, A34 says he was involved with street/guerrilla art long before Banksy rose to prominence.

He hopes the signs can help show social media companies that users can ‘drive a stake through [their] heart’.

He said: “I put up my social media signs because I’m fascinated by our relationship with the subject.

“There’s been nothing like [social media] in human history, in terms of how easily we can mass communicate. We cannot be certain whether it will be a force for good, although I hope it will be. As an artist, I’m interested in the boundary between what is fake and make believe.

“I’ve created my signs in a way where they appear fake upon close inspection, but very real when [photographed]. It’s an illusion, just as so much that appears on social media is an illusion.”

Oxford Mail:

Other street names include: OMG Crescent, Like Square, Tweet Close, Unfollow Way, Emoji Alley, Google Walk, Retweet Way, Delete Lane, Share Passage, Whatsapp Lane, Facebook Row, Facebook Way and Twitter Lane.

In a statement, Oxford City Council praised the work but said it would be removed.

A spokesman said: “We will be removing these signs because they make Oxford harder to navigate, particularly for those who do not have a smartphone. That said, we encourage street art and have a number of graffiti ‘free walls’ across Oxford.

“We would encourage the artist to get in touch with us, so we can point them towards our free walls – and they can put their obvious talent to less wasteful use.”

A34 responded: “Most people tend to use Google Maps to find their way around. I’m sure the council admire my signs really, but have to be seen to not encourage other people to put fake signs up.”

He continued: “I view our current relationship with social media as a modern-day gothic tale, in the sense that the likes of Facebook, Google and Twitter are vampires, who continually need to suck data from us; data that is the blood that keeps the heart of their companies beating. However, we as users of social media platforms have a great deal of collective power and can drive a stake through the heart of the aforementioned companies.”

Oxford Mail:

The work has drawn a mixed reaction.

One fan told the artist: “Please continue to create, they make my day”.

A spokeswoman for Christ Church College, which now hosts a ‘Snapchat End’ sign, said the artist’s antics seemed ‘harmless and fun’.