  The concept of local symmetry is a powerful tool in predicting complex
transport phenomena in aperiodic media. A nonlocal continuity formalism reveals
how local symmetries are encoded into the dynamics of light propagation in
discrete waveguide arrays governed by a Schr\"odinger equation. However, the
experimental demonstration is elusive so far. We fabricate representative
examples of locally symmetric, globally symmetric and fully non-symmetric
configurations in fs laser-written photonic arrays and probe their dynamics.
Our approach allows to distinguish all three types of structures.
