Sign at historic African-American cemetery vandalized; police investigating

BATON ROUGE - Graffiti outside a historic cemetery in Baton Rouge is drawing the attention of local officials and law enforcement.

East Baton Rouge Councilwoman Tara Wicker tells WBRZ a volunteer first spotted the spray-painted messages Monday outside the Historic Sweet Olive Cemetery on Florida Boulevard.

Graffiti has been popping up around Florida Blvd lately, but one councilwoman says this crosses the line — defacing a historic African American cemetery sign. What it’s going to take to stop this tonight on @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/2GZnxVjH3M — Sydney Kern (@sydneykern) January 21, 2020

According to the Sweet Olive website, the cemetery dates back more than 100 years and is the oldest African-American cemetery established in Baton Rouge by an African-American fraternal organization.

The Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed it's looking into the situation and says investigators suspect the culprit is responsible for other acts of vandalism in the area.