Elba highway department uses creativity to turn swastika into meaningless pattern

Sometime within the past three or four days, somebody painted two swastikas on the asphalt in the area of Pekin Road and Batavia Elba Townline Road.

One of them, pictured above, on Pekin Road, was creatively obliterated by the Town of Elba Highway Department, which turned the swastika into meaningless geometrical shapes.

The other swastika is on a county road and highway Superintendent Tim Hens, who wasn't aware of the vandalism when we spoke late this afternoon, said his crews might need to get equally creative.

The Sheriff's Office has taken a report on the incident and Deputy Chris Parker is conducting interviews with residents in the area, but Chief Gordon Dibble said, "at this point, their purpose is known."

Dibble said unless there's a witness, this sort of crime can be difficult to solve.

Anybody with information can contact the Sheriff's Office at 585-343-5000.