Racist, far-right extremist and religious graffiti daubed across Sandbach has been removed this week using laser-cleaning technology.
A team of town councillors took to the streets armed with a pulse laser after the vandalism was reported by resident John Hough.
Mr Hough said: “It appeared about two weeks ago and I reported it to Cheshire East Council through the traCE app, but the council seems to be shirking its responsibilities.”
The online reporting tool, which stands for “track, report, alert Cheshire East”, was set up by the council in July last year replacing the map-based “Fix My Street”, as a way to manage reports from residents over issues such as potholes, fly-tipping and graffiti.
Mr Hough said: “I went through the whole thing and entered the information, and the app asked if the graffiti was offensive, abusive or racist.”
When he selected “no”, a message on the app said: “Thank you for your report. This does not meet the criteria for action at the present time.”
Mr Hough said: “I was in stunned silence when I saw that, gobsmacked. You can put anything you want on every wall around Sandbach and Cheshire East won’t do anything about it – I find that incredulous! I know they’re short of money, but that is ridiculous.”
He contacted town councillor Dave Poole, whom he knew had recently started a new business offering laser-cleaning technology.
Coun Poole explained that the laser was able to remove dirt, rust, grease or paint from any surface by firing a 300-watt magnified beam of light.
He said: “You use the settings to create a pattern of movement up to 50,000 times per second – it’s red hot and it whizzes back and forth. Once the beam of intense light hits the surface, through a process called ablation, whatever is on the surface, jumps off.”
While the graffiti that Mr Hough saw on street furniture in Sandbach Park did not appear to be offensive, including “Jesus Saves” scrawled over a table tennis table and “replant” with a crucifix painted on a bench, the markings appear to have a deeper meaning when viewed together.
“YHWH”, which was spraypainted onto a wall near Sandbach Park, represents the Hebrew name for God, “Yahweh”. In recent times the term has been commonly used by Christian Nationalists, who according to Wikipedia, “focus on promoting Christian views to achieve prominence or dominance in political, cultural and social life”.
The name “Brandon” was also sprayed onto a wall in the same paint. “Let’s Go, Brandon” is a slogan and internet meme that originated as an American political euphemism for “F*** Joe Biden”.
It became popular after an NBC reporter misheard a NASCAR crowd chant during an interview with driver, Brandon Brown, and has since become shorthand to symbolise a pro-Donald Trump political stance.
The meaning of a 12-square grid painted next to the name, containing dots in two sections is unclear, but similar symbols are often used as codes for gangs, in Freemasonry and in religious iconography.
Racial slurs and sexual language have also been seen on walls near to Waitrose and in Wheelock.
Coun Poole said he had been in contact with Cheshire East Council about the removal of the remaining graffiti.
Cheshire East Council was asked to comment.
(Photo: Dave Poole).
