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Fans of the Harry Potter franchise are suspected of vandalising a series of traffic stop signs in the small suburb of Wauwatosa, Milwaukee.
Police have discovered that several signs have had the word 'Voldemort' added in permanent black marker so that they now read 'Stop Voldemort' in reference to the fantasy film's main villain.
"Is it the crime of the century? No. But the problem is it's starting to add up," patrol specialist Paul Liest told the reporters.
It is thought that around 80 signs have been vandalised in the city, although similar markings have also been spotted across the US and in England.
Leist added: "You couldn't find a more important sign to vandalise. It's imperative people can read a stop sign. We'd like to see this come to an end. Besides we've got more important things to attend to."
Speaking to the Chicago Tribune, Captain Jeff Sutter admitted that officers had only realised what the vandalism meant when one policeman's young son came forward to enlighten them.
"It took a seven-year old to tell us what [the graffiti] was," he explained. "We thought it was just some type of new tagger."
Residents have been offered cash rewards for any tips that lead to an arrest. It is estimated that each sign will cost $80 to replace.
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(Agencies)
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日前，美國密爾沃基市沃瓦托薩小鎮郊區的很多停車標識被涂鴉，而據人們懷疑，哈利?波特魔法的粉絲們是罪魁禍首。
警方發現，有人用不掉色的墨水筆在一些標識上寫上了“伏地魔”字樣，因此標識顯示出來的是“站住，伏地魔”。“伏地魔”是這部魔幻系列電影中的大魔頭。
巡警專家保羅?里斯特在接受記者采訪時說：“這是新世紀的犯罪嗎？不是，但這個問題現在越來越嚴重了。”
據稱，該市大約有80個標識被涂鴉，而美國其它地區和英國也都已發現類似事件。
里斯特補充說：“停車標識是最重要的標牌了，卻還是被涂鴉。人們必須能夠看清停車標識。我們希望這種行為馬上停止。除了這些我們還有更重要的事情要做。”
杰夫?蘇特爾警長在接受《芝加哥論壇報》采訪時承認，直到一位警官的小兒子點破天機，大家才明白這個涂鴉是什么意思。
他解釋說：“一位七歲的小家伙告訴了我們（這個涂鴉）是什么意思。起初我們還當它是一種新式惡搞。”
當局還懸賞向提供嫌犯線索的居民頒發現金獎勵。據估計更換每個標識的費用為80美元。
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（英語點津 許雅寧編輯） |
