Residents of Yacolt are urged to use caution and awareness on the town’s roadways after three sets of wooden boards with nails inscribed with the word “Kent” and a swastika symbol were found between Feb. 5-7.
Yacolt Mayor Ian Shealy asked anyone who has information or possible security camera footage related to the spikes to contact the town of Yacolt or the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“My main reaction is that it's completely unacceptable,” Shealy said. “I think it’s really worrisome that somebody from either our community or outside of our community thinks it’s OK to put plywood with spikes on it and put it in places where it will hurt somebody.”
The three plywood road spikes were found on Hubbard Avenue, Northeast Worthington Road and East Jones Street, all within Yacolt town limits.
The wooden blocks possibly are a reference to Yacolt resident Joe Kent, a Washington state Republican who ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress and was recently nominated by President Donald Trump to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
“The Nazi logos are not OK either,” Shealy said. “But I don’t know what their motive is behind putting ‘Kent’ on there or the Nazi symbol. But the fact that they’re putting something harmful where people are walking and kids are playing and dogs are being walked is a problem.”
If any others are found, the town of Yacolt asks residents to pick them up carefully and turn them in at Town Hall.
“This isn’t something that happens in our town,” Shealy said. “This isn’t something that we
are going to put up with. Anybody that has information about it, we would greatly appreciate you coming forward and letting the sheriff’s department know. Or if they see something, say something.”
