The state seal is seen on the side of a Vermont State Police cruiser. Some Vermont inmates have gotten the best of the state police by adding a pig to the state decal on their cruisers.
Vermont’s state-trooper crest traditionally portrays a calm mountain scene with a cow grazing under a tree. But something is slightly off. As an unidentified Vermont police officer wiping down a patrol car Wednesday discovered, a pig is lurking within the emblem’s design, disguised as a spot on the cow’s shoulder, the Burlington Free Press reports.
Apparently, inmates working in the print shop at Vermont’s Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans took their creative license a little too far while reprinting the state troopers’ official crest in 2008. Also responsible for printing stationery, reports and brochures, the inmates allegedly doctored the decal’s computer file to cunningly conceal the animal in the design, Andy Pallito, Vermont Corrections Commissioner, told the Free Press.
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According to Reuters, the image has gone unnoticed for at least a year and the 16-inch door decals have decorated about 30 cruisers.
“It dishonors the memory of those past and present members, especially for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty,” state police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro told Reuters.
Outraged at the sneaky, insulting reference to cops, officials said they have plans to remove the decals, but the process will cost about $800.
“While some may find humor in the decal modifications, the joke unfortunately comes at the expense of the taxpayers,” Police Major Bill Sheets said in a statement.
Pallito told the Free Press an investigation has begun to find out how the image was modified and who is responsible.