Residents have expressed shock, disgust, and disappointment after word circulated this morning that racial slurs had been spray-painted on a home in the downtown area. While the graffiti has reportedly already been removed from the home, residents are looking for answers and a positive way forward.

The incident was first mentioned on the Simply Guilford Facebook page by Noel Petra on the morning of June 20.

“While on my run this morning I saw racial slurs spray painted on a house near downtown,” the post read. “It made me feel sick and incredibly protective and angry that this would happen in our town.”

The slurs were anti-Asian American. Members of the community were quick to respond to the post, sharing messages of disappointment, support for the homeowners affected—including offering to help re-paint the home—and asking the community to come together to address this issue.

Guilford Foundation Executive Director Liza Janssen Petra said that she is in contact with representatives from the Connecticut branch of the Anti-Defamation League [ADL] to offer support for the family affected and hopefully come up with a community response to the incident.

“They [ADL] have a lot of experience in responding to community crisis such as this,” she said. “This is obviously a horrible incident and we reflected back on some other incidents [of vandalism] that have happened recently—Roses for Autism comes to mind and the Grass Island Shack—so it seemed as we got over our emotional response…We also thought it might be an opportunity to bring the community together on a broader scale to have a conversation.”

Petra said she has reached out to local religious leaders, the library, the Guilford Savings Bank, the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, and other leaders in the community to see about starting a meaningful conversation and to find a way to respond in a positive manner.

“The purpose of that would be to provide some sort of a positive solution, positive response, positive learning opportunity, to come together around some of these issues,” she said. “…This is not something that will be tolerated or accepted and it is an opportunity for education and growth. This is not how we act or behave in Guilford and it is something we as a community need to address.”

Guilford Police Chief Jeff Hutchinson confirmed police responded to the incident at about 6:25 a.m. on June 20 and said the department is currently investigating.