You're F-ing with us, right?

I think I'm going to have to rely on Mark over at Recidivist Journals or Mister Shakes to tell me if this is real or not. It just has "prank" written all over it.

Brits driving Austrians bonkers over rude village name

LONDON, (AFP) - British tourists have left the residents of one charming Austrian village effing and blinding by constantly stealing the signs for their oddly-named village.

While British visitors are finding it hilarious, the residents of F---ing are failing to see the funny side, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

Only one kind of crimimal ever stalks the sleepy 32-house village near Salzburg on the German border -- cheeky British tourists armed with a sense of humour and a screwdriver.

But the local authorities are hitting back and with the signs now set in concrete, police chief Kommandant Schmidtberger is on the lookout.

Okay, it's all well and good, but then we start getting quotes like this:

"We will not stand for the F---ing signs being removed," the officer told the broadsheet.

"It may be very amusing for you British, but F---ing is simply F---ing to us. What is this big F---ing joke? It is puerile."

...and

"Every American seems to care only about 'The Sound of Music' (the 1965 film shot around Salzburg). The occasional Japanese wants to see Hitler's birthplace in Braunau.

"But for the British, it's all about F---ing."

...and

Guesthouse boss Augustina Lindlbauer described the village's breathtaking lakes, forests and vistas.

"Yet still there is this obsession with F---ing," she said.

"Just this morning I had to tell an English lady who stopped by that there were no F---ing postcards."

See what I mean? The language is just a little too... calculated. Mark? Mister Shakes? Heard anything about this? Or did some prankster write up a news story and somehow get it published?

I mean, come on... Kommandant Schmidtberger??? I'm German, and even I find that name ridiculous. Why not just call on Otto von Schnitzelpusskrankengescheitmeyer?

(Needed a break from bad news cross-post)