A mayor believed she was the victim of a hate crime after finding a 'sticky, yellow substance' on her car which later turned out to be pollen.

Police investigated the claims made by Lamar Mayor Darnell Byrd McPherson, who reported that someone sprayed her 2017 Symphony Silver Hyundai Elantra Sport with a residue outside their home on February 7.

The Mayor of the South Carolina town also claimed her husband’s soft-top 1998 Buick Roadmaster had been sprayed with a substance which 'got in all of the grooves' of the gray sedan.

Newsweek reported that McPherson had returned to her home and claimed her husband "went out to the car to get some things out of the garage. He says, "Somebody's painted your car!."'

Lamar Mayor Darnell Byrd McPherson believed she was the victim of a hate crime after discovering a yellow, sticky substance on the hood of her car

McPherson asked police to investigate after a sticky substance was found on her car. An incident report later concluded that the material was pollen

It was a 'grainy substance' like industrial spray foam used to patch concrete and 'looked like little pebbles', McPherson said.

In a statement to WPDE-TV before police investigated the incident, the mayor said: 'During the 70s, crosses were burned in the yard of our home when my mother was involved with the civil rights movement.

'Again, we are grateful the person or persons did not try to take our lives but the culprits will be identified and prosecuted.

'Love conquers hate and my husband and I refuse to be intimidated by those who perpetrated this act of vandalism which I classify as an act of hatred.'

However an incident report obtained by Newsweek claimed the Mayor and her husband streaked a finger over the tarnished parts surfacing the car.

She told the magazine that the couple 'realized it was not paint and that the substance could be removed with a finger; similar to pollen.'

She also claimed that there were no words or symbols drawn on the cars. 'To me that was the message,' she said.

McPherson believed someone sprayed her 2017 Symphony Silver Hyundai Elantra Sport with a residue and did the same to her husband's car outside their home

The cars were parked in the street near the end of the couple's driveway, a block and a half from Lamar’s downtown.

McPherson claimed that there was no possible motives for a person or people targeting her.

'I have a good reputation,' she told the magazine. 'I have never been subjected to something like this. 'It was something; it was just unnerving to me.'

Darlington County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Robby Kilgo explained that an investigation was opened to determine what the substance was on both cars.

Mayor Darnell Byrd McPherson claimed her and her husband's car was targeted

'We found it to be pollen,' Kilgo explained in an interview with Newsweek. 'There was no reason for us to collect a sample.”

The report that was taken included details of an examination by two sheriff's officials (a sergeant and a deputy) 'immediately came to the conclusion that the substance had a yellowish tint to it and that it's a type of powder similar to pollen.'

Kilgo explained that once the mayor was convinced she had been attacked, the local agency referred the matter to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division or SLED.

'Due the suspicion from her of it being a hate crime, we couldn’t say no,' he said.

The report added that the mayor also had "a possible suspect in mind at the time" of the incident.

A SLED spokeswoman informed Newsweek that a decision was made against launching a probe.

'We reviewed the incident report, but we did not open a formal investigation,' she said.