By midday Saturday, an image of the sign was widely circulated online, leading to questions of whether the sign was the work of an Arby's employee (and a racist, awful one at that) or a random passerby vandal (ditto).

Arby's wasn't volunteering as much, if it does know the author's identity, but the company is well aware of the sign's rewriting. A statement from Arby's says its board was "compromised" by "someone," who used its black letters to spell out something "extremely offensive."

The message was soon taken down, and Arby's says it is "cooperating with local law enforcement officials" regarding the incident, with intent to "take appropriate action against those involved." (No one from the Brooklyn Center Police Department was available to speak to the matter on Saturday.)

"We apologize to everyone exposed to that message," Arby's says in its statement.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to the location of this Arby's as Brooklyn Park. While there is an Arby's in Brooklyn Park (and also on the stretch of Brooklyn Boulevard in that city), this occurred in Brooklyn Center.