I can think of a couple of reasons.
1st, maybe the original owner would get a woody every time he sat in the car at night and when the lights came on he saw it
2nd, maybe the original owner turned the key to start and touch wood that the engine did not let go this time
But seriously i do not have a clue to why anyone wood put that their, maybe they wanted someone to post a thread about it years later like we are discussing now
Wood luck witrh your questioning