Back in late January, ever-vigilant Boston officials locked down the city and threw it into a panic after various terrifying Lite-Brites were found planted around town.

A month later, Boston police blew up a stoplight to fight the growing traffic counter menace.

Yesterday, a strip mall in suburban Boston was evacuated and locked down on suspicion of someone faxing a bank some MS Word clip-art.

A day-care center with about 30 children and more than a dozen small businesses in Ledgemere Plaza on Eliot Street were evacuated for about three hours after bank branch managers received a fax with images of a crude timer and a hand lighting a bomb, Ashland police Chief Scott Rohmer said. Bank employees told police a suspicious package had arrived around the same time, elevating their fears.

Bank security personnel later determined that a fax machine at the corporate office left off the text alerting employees to Small Business Commitment Week in June, including the words, "The Countdown Begins," above the bomb.

Citizens are urged not to sneak up on Boston and shout something, as that would paralyze the entire city for days.

Faulty fax, mistaken as threat, prompts evacuation of stores [Globe]