PHOENIX --- When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense.

Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty Aug. 11 for the damage done March 28 at the park's Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks.

Mr. Deck and Mr. Herson, both 28, toured the United States this spring, wiping out errors on government and private signs.

An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Mr. Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, or TEAL.

Authorities said a diary written by Mr. Deck reported that while visiting the watchtower, he and Mr. Herson "discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors."

The fiberboard sign has yellow lettering with a black background. Mr. Deck wrote that they used a marker to cover an erroneous apostrophe, put the apostrophe in its proper place with white-out and added a comma. The misspelled word "emense" was not fixed, Mr. Deck wrote, because "I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further. ...Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight."

Mr. Deck, of Somerville, Mass., and Mr. Herson, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property. They were sentenced to a year's probation, in which they cannot enter any national park or modify public signs. They also have to pay $3,035 to repair the watchtower sign.

Error creates $850,000 bonus

OKLAHOMA CITY --- Oklahoma officials say a typo resulted in a state employee receiving a bonus of $850,000 -- but it was only temporary.

Jo Harris was supposed to receive an $850 longevity bonus for working at the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission for seven years. But a misplaced decimal point turned that into a six-figure windfall.

Officials say they caught the error before the $850,000 left state funds.

Ms. Harris' original paycheck issued in February was canceled and a new one was issued with the correct bonus. Officials told her about the mistake and asked her to watch her personal bank account.

Ms. Harris said she would let officials know right away if the extra money entered her account because "I don't go to jail for anybody."