06:50 PM PST on Wednesday, February 22, 2006

By PAUL AKER / KING 5 News

TUMWATER, Wash. - Words of hate and pornographic images are circulating in a most unexpected way in Thurston County.

Plastic Easter eggs loaded with obscenities have landed on lawns in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater.

"Every house had two or three," said Tumwater resident Steve Newbon, who picked up several from his own lawn in a residential neighborhood.

At first, he thought Easter had come early. Then he got a closer look.

"It upset the living bejeezus out of me," he said.

KING

Dozens of eggs like this one, with hate messages on them, were found in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, Wash.

Police say a neo-Nazi type group spread the eggs and flyers. The containers held obscene images, slurs against homosexuals and slurs against certain minorities. Newbon's most concerned because his young son gets on the bus close by.

He also has an adopted grandmother from another country and both English and Spanish are spoken in his house.

Police say the eggs have shown up on lawns all over the area including Olympia and Lacey. An officer found more than 40 in Tumwater alone.

But despite the messages, police say the only crime is littering.

"At this time, we really don't have much. We have littering. They have a right to free speech. There's not much we can do … We don't have any suspects," said Tumwater Police Det. Jennifer Kolb.

While police look for suspects, neighbors hope they're caught before they hatch more hate.

"They shouldn't be doing the eggs. That's not right at all," said Shirleyann Westman.

"That's not first amendment rights, that's bigotry," said Newbon.