Graffiti mars Auburn’s beautiful Riverwalk and the trestle bridge that connects it to Lewiston’s Railroad Park.

There is no excuse for the damage to remain.

A swastika brands the stone-block retaining wall along the Riverwalk. The wall is attractive and was built with aesthetics in mind. Now it is marred. The city is aware of the issue, and an e-mail exchange between the city and this newspaper suggests the damage was done last fall.

As of Thursday, it had still not been removed. Even though thousands of visitors were drawn to the area for the Great Falls Balloon Festival last weekend. Even though the graffito is a vile, reprehensible symbol of hate and oppression. Even though city officials believe they have arrested the vandal.

An inspection of the swastika found it to be ugly, distinctive and removable. A few scrapes with a pocket knife brought off the paint. A wire brush and a little elbow grease – perhaps from the person arrested in connection with the paint job – would do wonders. Just imagine how fast the job could be accomplished with something as high tech as a sandblaster or power washer.

At least two swastikas also pollute the bridge connecting the walk to Lewiston. There’s also an older, faded Ku Klux Klan symbol and a hodgepodge of love messages and name calling. Observers tell us the Nazi signs are relatively new. A whitewash is in order here as well.

The swastika began its ancient existence as an innocuous emblem of good luck and as a talisman to drive away evil spirits. It was appropriated as a symbol of German nationalism at the end of the 19th century and then as an insignia of the Nazi Party during Hitler’s reign. Since then, the bent cross has been tainted by

anti-Semitism and racism.

Removing the symbols of hate from public places won’t make the anger behind them go away. But it is a demonstration of our disdain for the message and the messenger.

Will the scribbles of paint return? Almost assuredly. Cleaning up the damage will not stop the vandals, whether they are motivated by hate, anxious to leave a “tag” on a landmark or just bored, misguided and unregulated kids. They will return. And each time they do, the city should see to it that their handiwork is removed.

Rep. Mike Michaud and other dignitaries plan a walking tour of the area for Monday. While we don’t think the city should clean up just because people of power plan a visit, the event does set a convenient deadline for action.

The Twin Cities mobilized an impressive crew to pick up garbage and restore order after the Balloon Festival. Now they should apply some of that organizational muscle and political will to this problem.

Clean up the mess. Get rid of the graffiti.
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