A. No person shall place, maintain or display upon or in view of any highway an unauthorized sign, signal, marking or device which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles an official traffic control device or railroad sign or signal, or which attempts to direct the movement of traffic or which projects any flashing or revolving beams of light, or which hides from view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal.
B. No person shall place or maintain nor shall any public authority permit upon any highway any traffic sign, signal or device bearing thereon any commercial advertising.
C. This section shall not prohibit the erection upon private property adjacent to highways of signs giving useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken for official signs.
D. Every such prohibited sign, signal, marking or device is hereby declared to be a public nuisance; and the city is hereby empowered to remove the same without notice. (1980 Code § 20-35)