A pair of swastikas spray painted onto a central Victoria road may have been put there as a ploy to get potholes repaired.
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The Nazi symbols, on the Dunolly-Maryborough Road, were reported by a Jewish woman and her son to Jewish rights group the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC).
The symbols - illegal to display under recently passed state legislation - have since been sprayed over with tar.
A community social page in the area has claimed the stunt was aimed at highlighting the need for road repairs.
Since December it has been prohibited to show the Nazi symbol in a public place, with penalties including a $22,000 fine, 12 months imprisonment, or both, in place for the offence. Steps are being taken around Australia to ban Nazi hate symbols, including salutes.
'Ultimate emblem of evil'
Dr Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said as part of an ADC statement that "drawing this ultimate emblem of evil, which represents Hitler's machinery and the extermination of millions in gas chambers on a busy road, is beyond indecent".
He went on to say that he hoped "those individuals who are responsible for this ugly act are identified and punished accordingly".
"In fact, they should be prosecuted under the new law that bans the public displays of the Nazi swastika," he said.
When told that the painting of the swastikas may not have been motivated by racism, Dr Abramovich said he wasn't comforted.
"If people are painting Nazi swastikas to get attention, shame on them! They should know better," he said.
Following the ADC's statement on August 11 about the incident news of the swastikas went international, with the Jerusalem Post linking them in a report to a violent, anti-semitic incident on a bus in Melbourne on August 3.
Possibly ploy to get potholes fixed
However, according to the moderators of a social media page in the Maryborough-Dunolly area, the illegal graffiti was designed to provoke action from VicRoads.
"In what appears to be an effort to encourage VicRoads to organise for the repair of potholes on our country roads, swstks [sic] have been spray-painted near one on the Maryborough-Dunolly Road, situated between Bet Bet and Dunolly," an August 6 post said.
Reactions to the post have been mixed.
When contacted, the forum moderators said they didn't know who had painted the swastikas but the photographer and the page's moderators had believed they had done so to try to prompt road repairs.
"That was certainly the assumption of the photographer and [the page] when posting it out," they said.
Maryborough police said on Saturday they had not received any reports about the swastikas but would look into the matter.
Graffiti that is offensive, racist or could impact road safety is removed by the Department of Transport and Planning as soon as possible.
A department spokesperson said crews would inspect the Maryborough-Dunolly Road to remove any offensive graffiti or vandalism.
"We encourage anyone who witnesses vandalism on our roads or public transport network to report it to authorities," the spokesperson said,.
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