I first discovered this in 14w07a, but forgot to report it. Once I saw that 14w08a was released, I thought that maybe it had been reported or caught and fixed. To my surprise, it still exists. Basically, the natural-generating villager torch posts have recently been having problems (for me at least). The torches are replaced with a small black and pink checkered box. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I think it may be texture-related, again, not totally sure. I have found that it also effects ladders that are at the y of the torches or above; however, upon destroying all of the torches, all of the ladders went back to normal. Of the pictures provided, there are before and after shots (shots taken before the torches were broken, and shots taken after).
Unable to confirm. Are you using any resource packs or mods?