Penis prank at school seen in Google Earth

The principal of a Hamilton, New Zealand secondary school is upset that his fine academic institution is represented by this image in Google Earth. The penises were created in 2009 but the prank's global impact was delayed until someone noticed the image last weekend while looking at area properties. From NZ Herald:

It happened (in 2009) over a weekend but it wasn't until the grass died off bit by bit that phallic symbols started to pop up around the school grounds.
Every week another crude image revealed itself, much to the dismay of staff.
"There's not really much we could do about it," (acting principal Gerhard van Dyk said.)
"The caretaker took some more weedkiller and tried to camouflage it a bit."
Mr van Dyk never caught the culprits and the prank would no doubt have passed into schoolboy folklore had it not been captured by Google Maps.
The red-faced principal said he would be contacting Google to plead for the image's removal but an internet privacy specialist said it was difficult to get such satellite photographs changed or blurred.

"Penis prank captured on satellite image"

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

Anonymous

Is that as in “I’m going to go check out some penes?” I’m sure one could use that term in a mover clever illustration, but I’m just enjoying the purity.

Genitalia is funny.
Anonymous

jimh: Thanks for your penetrating analysis. It’s no wonder that this incident has aroused our indignation. We can only hope that one of the perpetrators will soon feel the prick of remorse and spill his conscience.
hapa

“there are six penises on the grass outside the window. how do we determine the size a fig tree would have to be to grow leaves to cover them?”
OldBrownSquirrel

Is anyone else reminded of Cerne Abbas?
Sarah Neptune

And now that the giant penises have been uncovered, the adults have the urge to play Hide The Penis. Perfectly natural, nothing to be ashamed of.
Anonymous

If they had been placed in a circular order, they would be known as cock circles. These are the more common observed crop cockles. Makes me long for a vacation to Cockhenge. Sorry for the excessive use of the word c@#%. It just sounded funnier than Penishenge.
- bhtooefr
  
  Chodehenge.
Gulliver

Goes well with the other architecture you can see from space, the work of beavers.
jimh

Surely the staff could work harder to root out these cocky sod whackers! These cranks are flying in the face of good folk everywhere, and they remain at large, glad-handing and fist-pumping, no doubt swollen with pride. It’s shameful.
- Maurice Reeves
  
  Your comment wins. I don’t need to read anything else today.
Trixi

Maybe he’s upset that the penis is circumcised?
Anonymous

And then there’s the pond I used to ice-skate on when I was a kid: http://imgur.com/4fp2H (in Greenwich, CT, USA) (from Google Earth Historical Imagery for 1/1/2005)
Anonymous

These were obviously made by Jonah (Dick-tation) of Summer Heights High.
Anonymous

It appears excessive to me to use weedkiller to erase the penises, since that will kill a lot of grass (living beings)that have a right to live. BTW many cultures in history and prehistory did not have problems with phallic depictions, maybe they glorify life and our “modern” culture glorifies death.
Anonymous

Someone should grass on those dicks.
Anonymous

What was the acting principal’s name again? : – )
It_Figures

FFS! It’s penis(es). No need for them to be dickheads about it. Oops.
- mraverage
  
  Mr. Figures: Is that penises or peni or penii? I’ve never been sure.
  - wnoise
    
    The standard plurals are “penises” and “penes”.
Nemo1

Gerhard van Dyk (heh-heh)
dougrogers

Aliens! They were drawn by aliens! They can only be seen from space!!!! Proof!!!!!
Logolepsy

There is a total of six penises, one extra-large, one large and four extra-small. I wonder if they represent the sizes of the culprits… For the curious, here’s the link to Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-37.762187,175.275485&spn=0.000915,0.002064&t=h&z=20
- SamSam
  
  Beautiful! I see all 6, including one appearing to penetrate a pair of buttocks. Or boobs. Or something.
whisper dog

This happened a while back to Harman Geist football stadium in Hazleton PA – the Cougars play on a giant dick decorated field.

It’s still visible on Google Maps (thank you google for that excellent shortened URL): http://goo.gl/maps/PEKR
It_Figures

I can’t find the other 3. They must be hiding in the bushes.
It_Figures

I cant find the other 4. They must be hiding in the bushes.
LogopolisMike

Kids, what’s the matter with kids today. Absolutely nothing – because this is awesome. The exact kind of prank that will drive an adult in charge crazy but hurts no one. It’s not like vandalizing with graffiti/words, where an “innocent” can wonder/tell what it is, but instead, it’s the type of thing that only those in the know will spot. I don’t know why this brings me so much joy, but it does.
- smaier69
  
  “The exact kind of prank that will drive an adult in charge crazy but hurts no one.”
  
  Agreed. Some of the highest quality, super-primo win right there.
Anonymous

There was a giant dead-grass dick on a hillside facing Auckland’s main highway a couple years ago. It was even drawn in the same style. Wonder if it was the same guys.
Anonymous

Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJZd88vBHEs&feature=player_embedded
IronEdithKidd

Certainly the only practical use of Google Earth is to locate easter eggs.
- rebdav
  
  I use it when cycle touring to satellite recon good potential stealth camping sites away from houses or roads.
Anonymous

Sorry in advance for what follows; but I cannot help myself on this, now that I am not laughing so hard that paramedics may be needed.

Only visible from an overhead shot.
This is ridiculous.
Someone needs to be penalized for this.

“phallic symbols started to pop up” (heh-heh)
“much to the dismay of staff” (heh-heh)

Uber brilliance, I now have some faith in the future.

Thanks!!!
- Anonymous
  
  What a shame for such a fine upstanding academic institution. heh- heh.
Anonymous

In my day, it would have been a peace symbol.
If kids today prefer a giant penis, I suppose that’s their perogative. But to quote the illiterate’s question to the guy with the advertising sandwich board, “What is the nature of your protest?”
rebdav

Just to be clear I use Google earth to find camping spots, not a giant penis burned into a school lawn. :p