Vandals etch giant phallus into hill below Idaho governor's mansion

BOISE, Idaho — Maybe they could put a big fig leaf over it.

Vandals late Wednesday or early Thursday used a herbicide to etch a giant 60-foot phallus in the grassy slopes beneath the Idaho governor's mansion, a popular site for people to ride ice blocks down the lawn as temperatures in Boise reach 100 degrees.

The portion of the hillside marred by the image belongs to the J.R. Simplot Co., the agricultural conglomerate which in 2004 donated the hilltop mansion to the state. The mansion is currently unoccupied — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter lives on his Star, Idaho ranch — and awaiting renovations.

"We found out about it yesterday, went to see what it was all about, and saw that it's on ground below what was donated to us," Tim Mason, head of the state's public works division, said Friday. "They (Simplot) were going to take action to remove it."

Officials with the Simplot company, which maintains the hillside, planned to treat the damaged grass with a material that's ordinarily used to repair blemishes on golf courses.

Boise Police spokesman Charles McClure said no vandalism or graffiti report had been received by the department by Friday afternoon.