"What's in a name?" asked William Shakespeare half a millennium ago. Well, quite a lot, according to a number of young Barnet residents.

Over the past 18 months, a few class-conscious graffiti artists have taken it upon themselves to improve the borough's image by adding an acute accent to the e on scores of road signs, using masking tape, Velcro and black paint.

The most recent markings occurred last week, on signs on the A1000, or Great North Road, and outside Barnet College. There are now believed to be around 15 "defaced" signs across the borough.

The idea has proved popular among residents. Tom Thorby, 20, recently extended the trend to Barnet's Wikipedia entry, adding accents to every mention of the town, and Megan Lynch, 18, from High Barnet, set up a Facebook site called Actually I prefer living in Barnét than living in Barnet. It currently has 812 members, with a rival site - the Sunny Barnét del Mar appreciation society - boasting a further 109.

Miss Lynch said: "It's just a bit of fun really. I don't think anyone actually wants to change the name, but people do seem to like saying that they live in Barnét. People have even started changing the area where they live on their Facebook sites."

Ex-High Barnet resident Matt Elms, 35, said he joined the Facebook group because he "appreciated the humour".

"Originally when I saw the accents appear I thought it was like a secret group. I've never actually applied an accent myself, but I think it's great when they appear. You wonder if it was someone you know."

But not all Barnet residents were pleased with their new cosmopolitan identity. Barnet Society planning and environment officer David Lee said he was "intensely irritated" about the changes, because he was the one who designed the original town welcome signs a decade ago.

He said: "These signs were the result of thinking and discussion by the Barnet town council forum, agreed on by the community and paid for by the council. It is very sad that the community has done this. It's very irresponsible, and if they have nothing better to do then I feel very sorry for them."

But Barnet Society chairman Barry Blain said that the signs at least showed that residents were taking notice of their environment.

He said: "A little bit of graffiti seems a lot better than the horrible advertising slogans the council has put underneath the signs from estate agents. I'm quite pleased that some residents are showing an awareness of their surroundings. It doesn't seem too serious."

Barnet Council have adopted a no-tolerance attitude towards the markings. A spokesman said: "Where we see signs defaced and not conforming to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directory manual, we will take immediate action. If signs do not belong to us we will inform the appropriate people."