Did MacGyver recently pay a visit to Butler?

If not, someone in the city has put into practice the TV fictional secret agent/handyman’s belief that anything can be fixed with duct tape — even a broken utility pole.

The gray fabric-backed tape is hard to miss on a telephone pole at West New Castle Street and Wagner Avenue, which was apparently damaged in a vehicle accident.

“It looks like somebody wrapped probably a half a roll of it around that pole,” said Capt. Jim Kaufman of the Butler Fire Department.

The quick-if-not-professional repair caught the attention of a concerned caller about 6 p.m. Thursday when the county’s 911 center was notified.

Butler police and a city fire crew were sent to inspect and found layers of the tape starting at the bottom and continuing four to five feet up the pole.

The not-so-nifty tape job was done in the aftermath of a vehicular mishap, authorities said. But no one knows when it happened.

“Probably within the last week,” Kaufman said, “maybe longer.”

The primary evidence left behind are dually truck tire tracks in the grass at the base of the pole and wood pieces and splinters.

“It looks like the truck was coming out of Wagner (Avenue) onto New Castle (Street) headed west,” Kaufman said.

Police Deputy Chief David Adam said he could find no report to show officers investigated any accident there.

The crash left the pole damaged but standing.

“It’s off center but it’s not leaning,” Kaufman said. “It’s not a danger (of falling).”

Still, fire officials said they advised 911 to contact the telephone company and alert them of the findings.

The duct tape do-it-yourself repair left firefighters shaking their heads, and grinning.

“I don’t know why anyone would have done it,” Kaufman said, “because it serves no purpose. It’s a new one on me. I’ve never seen it before.”