CONCORD, N.H (AP) – New signs on New Hampshire’s borders tell visitors, “You’re going to love it here.”

The only problem is the governor and other top officials hate them.

“Right now, every time I go past those things I’m embarrassed,” Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg said Thursday.

Gov. John Lynch acknowledged that he, too, can’t wait to get rid of the beige signs that depict a small village along with the “love it” slogan.

“It’s true. I want to be there when they take out the first one,” he said. “Those signs could be put up in any state in the country.”

The Senate passed a bill Thursday to require the state motto, “Live Free or Die,” on highway welcoming signs. The motto could replace the “love it” slogan on the beige signs, or, more likely, appear on new signs.

Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, who sponsored the bill, favors the latter.

“I don’t think adding the motto to an ugly sign will do any good,” he said.

The new signs started going up last year, replacing blue and yellow “welcome” signs. Except for one in Lebanon, the old signs did not have “Live Free or Die” on them.

The estimated cost of replacing the roughly 50 signs is $10,000, according to the bill.

Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, said it will cost much more, and tried unsuccessfully to raise the official estimate to $100,000. He proposed leaving existing signs in place but adding the motto to ones erected in the future.

The bill now goes to the House.

The motto honors the state’s most distinguished Revolutionary War hero, Gen. John Stark. According to the state Web site, Stark used it in a toast in 1809 when poor health led him to decline an invitation to a reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in neighboring Vermont. Stark said, “Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils.”