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Vandals carved a hate-filled message on the 18th green at Lakeville CC
(Photo: WBZ New Radio 1030 via Waggle Room)
The U.S. Secret Service and FBI are investigating as a hate crime the carving of a swastika and President Obama's name on the 18th green of a Lakeville, MA, golf course.
In the hate-filled message, vandals etched "I" above a swastika and "Obama" on the green at Lakeville Country Club, some 40 miles south of Boston.
The Secret Service, Lakeville police, and the FBI are reportedly involved in the hate-crime probe.
Golf course officials found the message Monday morning and believe it happened sometime Sunday night. The “I”, a swastika, and “Obama” scrawl covers about a 10-foot by 10-foot area on the putting surface, according to Lou Mincone, the Lakeville CC assistant manager who discovered the vandalism.
The Boston Herald reports that vandals used the heels of their shoes or some type of tool to scrape the message into the grass, while boston.com notes that the perpetrators may have employed sports cleats to do the damage. The Boston Globe Web site also reports that the FBI is involved in the case.
“I don’t know where the motivation is to do that sort of thing,” Mincone tells Boston Golf Examiner.
Lakeville groundskeepers will have to fix the scarred area, which could be difficult at this time of year. “Grass has slowed down growing,” Mincone says. “It’s a tough time to try to fix it.”
The green is big enough so that greenskeepers can keep moving the cup without having the blemished section come into play, Mincone notes. Golfers, however, will have to deal with the despicable mess for some time.
“It’s pretty ugly,” Mincone says. “When you finish a round of golf, you have to look at it.”
Some 10,000 people live in Lakeville, but it's not known if the vandals live in the rural town. Mincone, naturally, distances himself and the course from the the actions of the criminals involved in the carving.
"We don’t want it associated with here and people who come here for a good time," Mincone says.
It’s unknown if the message is connected, but Obama will be in Boston later this month for a fund-raising event for Governor Deval Patrick.
It's also not surprising to see such sentiments expressed, even on a golf course. Anti-Obama protesters have been using the contemptible Nazi symbol at town halls across the country to express their opposition to Obama's health-care policies.
It's not pretty but you can view a video of the damaged 18th green at Lakeville CC:
Comments
"I swastika Obama"? That doesn't even make sense.
I may not agree with Obama's policies but the Nazi comparisons are just ridiculous. Have neither liberals nor conservatives ever heard of Godwin's Law? You'd think after 8 years of Bush/Hitler comparisons, that they would want to take the high ground, sadly that doesn't seem to be the case with some protesters.
Also, the way the picture's shot makes it look kind of like a crop circle, a hate filled, non-sensical crop circle.
Not to mention the swastika is, um, reversed - for the swastika effect.
My first reaction was, 'if the vandal was attempting to make a Nazi comparison, he should have done the symbol in reverse.' and secondly, again as stated above, it doesn't even make sense. Things like this simply improve Obama in the eyes of the thinking person. If people that stupid disagree, well, i only agree more.
What you’re looking at is typical vandalism, obviously of those who are unintelligent. It could not be more than some dumb red-neck kid who lives within the area, just trying to be cool and wanted to destroy property. Unfortunately it involved the President's name and a swastika symbolizing hate, like a heart symbolizes love. The person who did it probably couldn't give you a reason for hating the President.
I take that is as an insult. I live in Lakeville and I'm in Law School and we are not "red necks" we are individuals who live in a small town and our crime rate is very low compared to others. I think they are over reacting. It is vandalism but it is also freedom of speech. Maybe the government will open their eyes.
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