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Vandals mar downtown with bizarre fliers, graffiti By JILL BRISKEY Medford police want to send a stronger message than the one vandals left downtown early Friday morning in the form of offensive fliers and graffiti. "We take these things very seriously. We're not letting this get out of hand," Lt. Mike Moran said of the fliers and graffiti plastered up and down Main Street. "It's disturbing. There's a definite inference there." Moran said Friday morning, community service officers were called in to remove an estimated 50 letter-sized fliers from the downtown area that appeared Thursday night or Friday morning. Police were most disturbed by a poster featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler with a bar-code imprinted across the forehead. The poster reads, "When I come back, no more Mr. Nice Guy ... Kill yourself now." "It's not clear who they are targeting, but you get an idea based on the inference of Hitler's message of hate," Moran added. "That one is very disturbing." Officers also removed other fliers with an image of a policeman and a message alleging similarities between law enforcement agencies and gangs. The poster, which apparently has circulated throughout the country, urges people to protect themselves from police and be prepared. "We've seen that one before," he said, adding that the police officer poster doesn't generate as much concern as the one bearing Hitler's image. Both fliers were photocopied on white paper. Investigators believe seven different cases of graffiti that appeared in the same area in the same time period are connected to the fliers. Written in black spraypaint, the graffiti began in the 300 block of West Main Street and ended in the 1000 block of East Main Street. The public defender's office was also tagged, Moran said. In "convoluted script," Moran said, the graffiti included the word "HESH" and curse words. "We're not really sure what it means," he added. Moran said the vandal or vandals struck sometime either late Thursday or Friday before 5 a.m. However, Moran said police don't suspect a local neo-Nazi group or individual. Although present, Moran said, the movement isn't necessarily strong in the Rogue Valley. Police aren't sure what the motivation was. "We don't view this as a joke. It doesn't have the flavor," Moran said. Medford's Gang and Street Drug Unit is investigating the incident. The responsible person could be charged with vandalism and illegally posting a sign. "There's a crime here," Moran said. "You can't plaster these all over the place in the city of Medford." Police are asking people who may have witnessed anyone putting up the fliers or tagging private property Thursday night or Friday morning to contact Medford police at 770-4783. Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.