Pigs on police cars: Just laugh it off, some Vermonters say

Officials in Vermont were upset earlier this month when they discovered that a prison prankster had inserted the image of a pig on decals for state police cruisers. But some folks in the state say: Leave the pig alone. A Facebook page, “Save the Vermont Pigs,” has been created, and 200 people have signed an online petition, according to AP.

“No harm, no foul, take it as an opportunity to have some fun,” said Cid Sinclair, the Vermont musician who created the Facebook page. “We live in pretty bleak times, and it’s rough. We have an opportunity to laugh together as one, as Vermonters.”

Sinclair said the Facebook page has been “liked” by more than 500 people. “What I would really like is for the governor to just leave the pigs on the car. That's the bottom line, at no expense to anybody,” he told AP.

Authorities believe that in 2008, someone working in a print shop run by prison inmates altered the official seal of the Vermont State Police. The inmate changed a spot on the shoulder of a cow in the emblem to resemble a pig, a 1960s-era epithet for police officers. But the pigs in the 16-inch decal were not noticed until February when a sharp-eyed trooper washing his car spotted it.

As many as 30 state police patrol cruisers used the altered decal, which also got the color of the cow wrong. State law says the cow should be red – not red and white – as a nod to the Devon cattle brought to Vermont by English settlers.

Officials said new decals would be made, but so far none of the altered decals have been removed. Meanwhile, authorities aren’t laughing. “We value our emblem and what it represents for our state and our agency,” a Department of Corrections official told AP.