Signs bearing the words: “It’s OK to be white,” have appeared in a Texas neighbourhood days before a divided nation prepares to go to the polls.

Reports said the signs, attached to lamp posts and other property, appeared in parts of the north of the city of Fort Worth. US media said similar signs have been reported on several university campuses.

One resident, Lois Burt, said she saw one of the signs while out walking and tore it down.

“I don’t care what colour you are. I don’t care what religion you are. I don’t care what your economic status is. You judge people by how they act,” she told the KTVT television channel.

“If you have an opinion you don’t put it on public posts — that’s littering.”

Council member Cary Moon, who represents the district, said the appearance of the signs followed a report sent to council members about other anti-immigrant and discriminatory signs and banners placed in other parts of the city.

“I condemn any type of literature sign that is posted that may be offensive to some folks,” he said.

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Reports from elsewhere in the country say similar signs have been appearing.

As the nation prepares for the midterm elections, there is something of a sense of anxiety, following the mail bombing of pipe bombs, the shooting dead of two African Americans in a grocery store and the killing of 11 Jews at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Critics of Donald Trump have accused the president of intentionally stoking division ahead of the election, with claims that a caravan of Central American migrants is a national security threat to the country.

Asked about this on Friday as he left the White House, Mr Trump pointed at the reporter who asked the question and said: “You’re creating violence by your question. The fake news is creating violence.”

The Associated Press said similar signs were found this week at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Campus police were notified at around 2am on Thursday that the flyers were attached to lawn signs urging students to vote.

A university spokesman said the signs were removed and police were investigating. Similar signs have appeared on college campuses across the country over the last year, including at Harvard University, AP said.

Several were found last weekend at the University of Vermont and at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

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T​ufts president Anthony Monaco condemned the signs in a note to members of the campus.

“We have watched with great sadness as incidents of hate and division have taken place across our nation in recent months – most recently in Pittsburgh, where Jewish worshippers were killed by an antisemitic gunman,” he wrote. “These incidents remind us of the need for continued vigilance against hatred and those who espouse it.”

The Tufts Community Union’s Senate Executive Board also condemned the flyers in a Facebook post on Thursday, according to American network The Blaze.

“[We] were shocked to learn that posters with language linked to white supremacist hate groups were found on our campus last night,” the message read.

“We want to take this moment to reaffirm our support for the members of our community targeted by white supremacist hatred, especially our students of colour, Jewish students, Muslim students, and LGBTQ+ students.”