LIMERICK — A display of Christmas lights that spell out the letters ISIS had parts of this community and media outlets abuzz over the weekend, but those who looked closely soon realized the display wasn’t a show of support for the Islamic State.

The light display, purportedly on a home in the area of Pickerel Pond, does indeed spell out the letters ISIS, but it isn’t a show if support – a lighted image of Santa Claus stands above the letters, with Santa answering a call of nature.

York County Sheriff Bill King said his office received calls of concern that the image was a show of support for ISIS, and some news outlets did as well.

King said deputies visited the home, and saw that the word ISIS was lit bright and clear, but that the image of Santa relieving himself on the lights wasn’t as clearly defined.

“Deputies spoke with the homeowner explaining why the sheriff ’s office took an interest in his holiday display and the homeowner stated he was going to rearrange the lights to clear up any doubts about his message,” King said in a prepared statement issued Saturday.

The homeowner’s name was not released.

King said he put out a statement in response to inquiries from the media.

“The only reason I put this news release out was because two media outlets received calls from a concerned citizen about the holiday display,” he said in an email. “No law was broken and we did not tell him to take the lights down or to reconfigure anything. We simply told him that somebody had alerted the media.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].