Does putting a ”free” sign on something give people more peace of mind abandoning their junk on the street?

I am not sure if you see it much where you live, but here way too often, you are traveling down the road and see a sofa, baby crib, old style TV, etc. and on it is taped a sign that says ”free”. No one does it right in front of their home; it is usually left in a neutral area, and usually appears overnight. Do people put a ”free” sign on it to fool themselves that they are not really illegal dumping? If they really wanted to give it away, could they not place it on their front yard with the sign on it? It appears that they don’t want it, but don’t want to pay the dump fee to get rid of it. What do you make of it?