Swastikas spray-painted on trees near Orange County early voting site; sheriff’s office investigating
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after swastikas were spray-painted on five trees less than a block from an early voting location in Taft.The graffiti was spotted along Orange Avenue near Pine Street, just down the road from the Taft Community Center, where voters are casting their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s election.Amber Levesque said she was driving to the community center to vote when she spotted the symbols painted in white on five tree trunks.“I was shocked. Honestly, I didn’t think that we had gotten to that point,” Levesque said.She recorded video of the graffiti and reached out to News 6 through our Neighborhood Network.When News 6 visited the location Friday, the swastikas appeared to have already been painted over. Fresh gray paint could be seen on all five tree trunks.The trees are not located on the community center’s property, but they stand less than a block from the entrance, along a road used by voters approaching the polling location.Levesque said s