The Oklahoma State Capital

GUTHRIE — Police noted fresh vandalism on a trail-map sign at Highland Park shortly after midnight Thursday, October 1.

Black paint had been applied to the already-faded sign and still smelled fresh, suggesting the damage was recent.

By morning, what appeared to be a Halloween witch’s hat lay near the sign, while a broken bird feeder lay behind it. It was unclear whether either item was connected to the vandalism.

Guthrie, Oklahoma - (October 1, 2026) What appears to be a halloween witch hat lies near the vandalized Highlight Park trails sign on Thursday morning.

The graffiti appears to read “God is gay,” a phrase that closes Nirvana’s song “Stay Away” on the band’s 1991 album, Nevermind. In a 1993 interview with The Advocate, frontman Kurt Cobain also recalled spray-painting those words on people’s trucks and described enjoying the reaction the following morning. His account suggests the phrase served as a deliberate provocation.

The park’s faded trail sign appears to have suffered from years of neglect. The trail system dates to the city’s focus on public recreation in the early 2000s. Federal Recreational Trails Program records list a Highland Trails Central Connector project in Logan County in 2000, followed by the Wilderness Walk second phase in 2002. Those projects included paved paths, signs, lighting and benches.

A 2006 federal record identifies Highland Park’s third phase, the Kiwanis Trail, with $80,000 in federal trail funding and $27,187 from other sources. That project called for 2,220 feet of asphalt trail, along with lighting, accessible sidewalks, benches, picnic tables and signs. The damaged sign lists all three phases, although its installation date has not been confirmed. Oklahoma administered the federal program through its Tourism and Recreation Department.

The Highland Park damage comes as Guthrie begins a new fiscal year with $100,000 budgeted for three new welcome signs. Council members unanimously approved the 2026–2027 budget on September 1.