May You Never Recoup Your Initial Investment

At least they didn’t eat it:

A box turtle that has for years crawled through backyards in Williamsburg was discovered last week painted a sickly orange, with neighbors blaming construction workers next door with ample time and spray paint on their hands.

Photos of the poor turtle, known as Myrtle, in her new Technicolor shell were first posted on the blog The Gowanus Lounge, and caused a cascade of vitriol on the site.

“Whoever did this should rot in hell,” wrote one commenter. “We live in a world of sociopaths,” commented another.

Myrtle the Turtle was discovered painted orange in a backyard next to a development that has long been an irritant to longtime residents. They have complained of demolition work, cracks appearing in the walls of their homes, and ripped out phone and cable lines.

The developer of the residential project at 5 Roebling Street, Shlomo Karpen, could not be reached for comment.

The owner of the building next to the development has for years been keeping turtles in her backyard. Meredith Chesney, who lives there, says the practice is something of a neighborhood folk custom.

She said she believed that the turtle escaped through a hole in the fence left by the construction work and wondered onto the site.

Many in the neighborhood said they thought that the appearance of a traffic cone-colored terrapin symbolized all that had gone wrong with their area.