strange characters showing up on main page

[mafiasam]

If you look at my main page, just above the footer on the left hand side of the page you will see three strange characters that look like typos.



I'm not sure if that showed up properly or if it is showing up for anyone else so if you don't happen to see the characters in your browser here is a link to what they look like...
screenshot

I went into the Developer's Tool Kit and checked to see if I could find these characters anywhere. It just so happened that it returned my
public_html/includes/templates/MY_TEMPLATE_FOLDER/common/tpl_footer.php
as the culprit.

But when I go into edit the document I can't find the characters.

Here's the code for the tpl_footer.php

<?php
/**
 * Common Template - tpl_footer.php
 *
 * this file can be copied to /templates/your_template_dir/pagename<br />
 * example: to override the privacy page<br />
 * make a directory /templates/my_template/privacy<br />
 * copy /templates/templates_defaults/common/tpl_footer.php to /templates/my_template/privacy/tpl_footer.php<br />
 * to override the global settings and turn off the footer un-comment the following line:<br />
 * <br />
 * $flag_disable_footer = true;<br />
 *
 * @package templateSystem
 * @copyright Copyright 2003-2005 Zen Cart Development Team
 * @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce
 * @license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0
 * @version $Id: tpl_footer.php 4821 2006-10-23 10:54:15Z drbyte $
 */
require(DIR_WS_MODULES . zen_get_module_directory('footer.php'));
?>

<?php
if (!isset($flag_disable_footer) || !$flag_disable_footer) {
?>

<!--bof-navigation display -->
<div id="navSuppWrapper">
<div id="navSupp">
<ul>
<li><?php echo '<a href="' . HTTP_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . '">'; ?><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CATALOG; ?></a></li>
<?php if (EZPAGES_STATUS_FOOTER == '1' or (EZPAGES_STATUS_FOOTER == '2' and (strstr(EXCLUDE_ADMIN_IP_FOR_MAINTENANCE, $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'])))) { ?>
<li><?php require($template->get_template_dir('tpl_ezpages_bar_footer.php',DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'templates'). '/tpl_ezpages_bar_footer.php'); ?></li>
<?php } ?>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<!--eof-navigation display -->

<!--bof-ip address display -->
<!--eof-ip address display -->

<!--bof-banner #5 display -->
<?php
  if (SHOW_BANNERS_GROUP_SET5 != '' && $banner = zen_banner_exists('dynamic', SHOW_BANNERS_GROUP_SET5)) {
    if ($banner->RecordCount() > 0) {
?>
<div id="bannerFive" class="banners"><?php echo zen_display_banner('static', $banner); ?></div>
<?php
    }
  }
?>
<!--eof-banner #5 display -->

<!--bof- site copyright display -->
<div align="center">
	<hr />
	<a href="http://www.oldwestgames.com/your_security.html" target="_self"><font size="2" face="Garamond, times new roman, Palatino Linotype">ABOUT YOUR SECURITY</font></a><br>
	<br>
	<table width="745" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">
		<tr>
			<td align="center"></td>
			<td align="center"></td>
			<td align="center"><strong><font size="3" color="black" face="Garamond, times new roman, Palatino Linotype" >Design and Development by<br>
						<a href="http://www.apodacadesignworks.com"><img src="/images/apodacadworks.png" alt="Design and development by ApodacaDesignWorks.com" height="77" width="150" border="0"></a></font></strong></td>
			<td align="center"></td>
			<td align="center"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center"><a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/"><img height="45" width="134" border="0" alt=" upgrade to Firefox 2 changing the web" title="Firefox 2" src="/images/firefox-spread-btn-2.gif"/></a></td>
			<td align="center"><a href="http://www.oldwestgames.com/your_security.html" target="_self"><img src="/images/quickssl_anim.gif" alt="Shopping with us is safe with our quickssl protection from geotrust" width="115" height="55" border="0"/></a></td>
			<td align="center"><a href="http://opensourcehost.com/" target="_blank"><img src="/images/opensourcehost.gif" alt="OpenSourceHost.com Focused Hosting" height="93" width="245" border="0"></a></td>
			<td align="center"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside" target="_blank"><img src="/images/cc_ppverify.jpg" height="80" width="134" border="0" alt="Use PayPal to make fast, easy, and secure payments" title="paypal"/></a></td>
			<td align="center"><a title="how to host a home poker tournament" href="http://www.homepokertourney.com" target="_blank"><img src="images/homepokertourney_2.gif" alt="hot to host your own texas holdem tournament in your own home" height="60" width="120" border="0"/></a></td>
		</tr>
	</table>
	<table width="423" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">
		<tr>
			<td align="center"><a href="http://www.ncpgambling.org/" target="_blank"><img src="/images/problem-gambling-logo.png" alt="National Council on Problem Gambling" height="56" width="250" border="0"></a></td>
			<td align="center"><a href="http://www.zen-cart.com/"><img src="images/zen_cart_pic.jpg" alt="zencart the art of ecommerce" height="46" width="153" align="middle" border="0"/></a></td>
		</tr>
	</table>
	<br>
	<div align="center">
		</div>
	<hr />
	<a href="http://www.oldwestgames.com/page_2.html">All Images and Text are Copyright © 2005-2008 Old West Games &amp; Tables</a>. Powered by <a href="http://www.zen-cart.com" target="_blank">Zen Cart</a><br />
	<br />
	<br />
</div>
<!--eof- site copyright display -->

<?php
} // flag_disable_footer
?>

Please help. Thanks.