It turns out there's a whole subreddit dedicated to whining about the US phenomenon of homeowners associations (or HOAs), and no gripe better encapsulates their draconian pettiness than the woman who reported being fined $100 for the tenuously dick-shaped outline her car left in melting frost.

Following what was described as a "pitiful ass" January snowfall in Tennessee, the resident, named only as Kathryn in car mag The Drive, was bemused to receive an email at work from her HOA notifying her of a $100 penalty for violating the policy on "displaying offensive images or slogans".

Puzzled by the cryptic note, which claimed to have photographic evidence of the offence, Kathryn tried to squeeze them for more info and was told:

Your car, specifically the Honda, left this offensive image on the ground after you left. I believe you will see why we have had complaints about it. One of our residents took the photo and reported it to us out of concern for our younger residents.

Let's take a look at this "offensive" image, shall we? Tenderhearted readers should probably throw their computers out of the window and set the remnants on fire about now because here it is.

Though it's a stretch to describe the outline as anything but the bottom of a car, The Register concedes that it is difficult to "unsee" the (very disappointing) chode.

"I died laughing y'all," Kathryn regaled her fellow chat forum denizens. "This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of being fined for, and we flat out told them we weren't paying."

Having pointed out that she wasn't Elsa from Disney's Frozen and that bylaws require offensive imagery to actually be intended to offend, Kathryn declined to pay and threatened legal action.

The HOA "let it go", as it were. "We understand," came the miserable response. "We will not be pursuing this further, in good faith pursuant to the wording of the by-laws."

In case you were wondering whether the HOA has been waging war against the resident and didn't simply need to brush up on the 1995 classic "An analytical study of frost nucleation and growth during the crystal growth period" from Heat and Mass Transfer journal, well, you'd be right. ®