Pentagram display vandalized again

Symbol in Boca’s Sanborn Square has generated controversy.

BOCA RATON — A large and controversial pentagram on display at Boca Raton’s Sanborn Square was vandalized early Tuesday — the third reported disruption to the display since it was erected two weeks ago.

T h e p e n t a g r a m — a n d a n attached sign that reads “In Satan we trust” — was dinged and taken down some time before 2 a.m., city police said. Near the damaged display are tire tracks that run through the grass at the city park.

On Monday afternoon, Preston J. Smith, an English teacher at Boca Raton Middle School who placed the display after securing the proper permit, complained the display had been tagged with spray paint, according to police records.

He a l s o re por te d a banner placed alongside the display was destroyed. The banner read: “At this Season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth & superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Smith had contacted police about a week before when the display had been covered in silver spray paint before it received local attention and sparked a protest at Sanborn Square.

Smith could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The vehicle that apparently drove over the lawn at Sanborn Square, on Federal Highway just north of Palmetto Park Road, damaged the grass.

“We aren’t responsible for the display, but we are responsible for our park,” Chrissy Gibson, spokeswoman for the city of Boca Raton, said Tuesday. The grass will be replaced by the city in time, she said, but Smith is responsible for once again putting up the display, should he choose to.

The permit granted for the pentagram display lasts through Jan. 6.

Last week, dozens of members of the Church of All Nations in