“I think it’s one more effort to intimidate people who stand up for civil rights,” said Evelyn Foxx's walking partner, Meg Niederhofer.

Alachua County NAACP chapter president Evelyn Foxx awoke Monday morning to a Confederate flag left on her lawn, Gainesville police reported.

Police are investigating and ask that anyone with information call detectives at 352-393-7670.

Foxx, 66, walked out of her house around 6:30 a.m. to meet her walking partner, Meg Niederhofer, for a morning stroll.

“When I walked out, it was just laying there,” Foxx said.

Niederhofer said from afar she thought the flag was an American flag and went over to pick it up. Foxx and Niederhofer called police shortly after realizing what it was.

Foxx says she’s been getting death threat phone calls that typically come in around 1-2 a.m. from callers claiming to be in the Ku Klux Klan.

“I’m just a little shaken,” she said. “The phone calls are one thing, but when someone actually comes to my house to do that...”

Niederhofer, the wife of County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson, said she and Foxx meet several times a week to walk together and over the past year Foxx has expressed fear about continued threats.

“I think it’s one more effort to intimidate people who stand up for civil rights,” Niederhofer said. “And you think those days are long gone and this proves they’re not.”

GPD spokesman Ben Tobias said officers canvassed Foxx’s neighborhood Monday morning to speak with neighbors. The department is investigating to determine whether the incident should be classified as a hate crime, he said.

“We’re looking into it and if we find someone responsible for it, then they could potentially be charged with a crime,” he said.

The department has been investigating threats made against Foxx since November 2016.

Hutchinson said the flag is a symbol of divisiveness and bigotry and took to Facebook to post about the incident.

“There should be no doubt about the Confederate battle flag’s usage as a symbol of divisiveness, bigotry, and hatred, or that racists live among us who still cling nostalgically to their culture of tyranny and intimidation,” he wrote.

Contact reporter Andrew Caplan at andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com or on Twitter @AACaplan.