TITUSVILLE, Fla. – The Titusville Police Department is investigating after vandals targeted five homes by spray-painting "KKK" and racial slurs on walls and fences.
Police said the graffiti was discovered Monday morning on homes on Jones Street and North Deleon Avenue.
Neighbor Dawn Vanslyke told News 6 she flagged down an officer when she saw the graffiti while walking her dog.
"I went and woke everybody up like, 'Hey, somebody wrote this all over,'" Vanslyke said. "We all treat each other with respect around here. To have this done to us, didn't make no sense."
Vanslyke who is biracial, told News 6 the homes that were targeted have both black and white families living in them.
She said she hopes the graffiti was just children acting immature and not a hateful threat, but a racial slur also spray-painted on a home makes her wonder.
"With the 'n' word, I think it is (racially motivated). I'm just praying it's a whole bunch of teenagers doing a prank and nothing more," Vanslyke said.
Another woman whose home was vandalized said she also contacted police.
Deanna Faye Taylor joked online about turning the KKK symbols scrawled on the side of her home into stick figures as a way to mock the vandals' hatred, but instead she opted to have the graffiti painted over Monday afternoon.
Vanslyke said neighbors will unite and look out for one another.
In terms of Getting Results, Vanslyke said that means putting up surveillance cameras.
"I didn't think I had to until now," she said. "We're going to bind together as neighbors. And we're all going to paint the houses, the fences, and go on living our life."
Police said none of the victims saw or heard any suspicious activity.
Officers said the vandalism is at least criminal mischief, possibly with an added hate-crime enhancement.