Drive into downtown Lewiston on Lisbon Street, make a right on Maple and you’ll see a sight that’s common in many urban areas: a pair of tennis shoes, tied together and thrown over the power lines that cross the road.

Urban legend holds that such shoes are advertising for drug dealers or used by gangs to mark their territory.

We’re almost certain these aren’t the first shoes to find their way to new – and unusual heights – in the Twin Cities. But we noticed this pair Friday morning and wondered what the police thought.

We called Lt. Mike McGonagle at the Lewiston Police Department, who said he’s seen other examples of shoes on a wire.

“I don’t think it means anything,” he said. “We’ve heard all kinds of things, the same type rumors about drugs. As police officers, we’ve talked about it before. … I think it’s just a bunch of kids who throw them up there. Maybe they see it in other cities.”

According to a study by the Londonderry School in Harrisburg, Pa., there’s no correlation between shoes hanging from power lines and crime. In the study, students used a Global Positioning System and a crime map to track shoes versus thug activity. They also interviewed police officers, who said they’d never heard of a drug dealer marking his or her territory with sneakers.

The shoes usually aren’t a problem for the power company, but there is a chance they could cause a power outage. If you see a pair of tangling shoes, call 1-800-750-4000. It’s not an emergency, but Central Maine Power likes to take them down before they cause problems.

Another urban legend gets tangled in the lines of fact.

But just what do those high-flying shoes mean?