FARMINGTON — Police said they arrested two college students walking down the street early Sunday morning with a “no parking” sign that the students thought would make a good lawn ornament.

A town police officer stopped the two women carrying the sign and long metal post as they walked alongside High Street about 1 a.m. in Farmington. When asked about why they had the sign, they shared their plan to spruce up the lawn of their nearby apartment.

“They told the officer that they found the sign on the ground on Lake Avenue and decided to carry it to their residence and make it into a lawn ornament,” said police spokeswoman Rachel Heseltine, citing reports from the officer.

The sign was back at the Town Office on Monday. The town plans to return it to its designated street corner.

The report listed the women — Colleen P. Lyons, 21, of Danvers, Mass. and Jade Petersen, 22, of Newport — as college students living in apartments in Farmington, Heseltine said. Both women were arrested on a charge of theft. They were released Sunday from Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington on separate $3,000 unsecured bonds and have Dec. 1 court dates.

Although the police report didn’t say where the women attend school, Petersen, of Newport, was on the spring 2011 dean’s list at University of Maine at Farmington; and Lyons, of Danvers, Mass. was on the spring 2010 dean’s list, according to the college’s website.