The US Navy will spend about $600,000 to transform some of its barracks that are a reminder of the famous Nazi symbol, when viewed from the space.

The money will be invested in “camouflage landscaping” and modifications operated for the rooftops, at barracks situated at the Naval Base Coronado near San Diego. Navy officials had been aware of the offending shape of the buildings since the 1967 but decided to take no action since no one was supposed to notice this.

“There was no reason to redo the buildings because they were in use,” a spokeswoman for the base, Angelic Dolan, said. She added that the buildings were in a no-fly zone that is off limits to commercial airlines, so most people would not see them from the air.

“You have to realize back in the ’60s we did not have the Internet,” Ms. Dolan said. “We don’t want to offend anyone, and we don’t want to be associated with the symbol.”

The swastika shaped barracks were built in the early 1960s but they involuntarily became famous after being spotted in Google Earth.

"The Navy came to realize that this is a symbol that thousands of people died to defeat and it was inappropriate to have that shape on a military base," said Anti-Defamation League regional director Morris Casuto.