HAYDEN, IDAHO A white separatist drew complaints from neighbours and a visit from law enforcement officers after building a snowman shaped like a member of the Ku Klux Klan on his front lawn.

Kootenai County sheriffs deputies told Mark Eliseuson Wednesday that he could be charged with a crime because the 3-metre-tall snowman was holding what appeared to be a noose. Deputies were called by neighbours who were appalled by the pointy-headed snowman with two dark eyes.

Hayden for decades earned notoriety for being near the former rural compound of the Aryan Nations.

Eliseuson could have been charged with creating a public nuisance. Idaho law defines such a nuisance as anything offensive to the senses or that interferes with the comfort of an entire neighbourhood. Eliseuson removed the noose and toppled the snowman after he talked with officers.

Eliseuson told KXLY-TV of Spokane that he sees nothing wrong with the snowman. But other people did.

Its such a message of hate, said Amber Caldwell, who saw the snowman while visiting her cousin in the neighbourhood. My kids asked me about it and I had to explain what that symbol means.

Eliseuson has angered neighbours in the past by flying Aryan Nations flags at his home. At Halloween he passed out bullet casings after he said he ran out of candy.