COTO DE CAZA (CBSLA.com) — A vandal or vandals spray painted ugly racial slurs on a sign outside the gated Orange County community of Coto ee Cza.

CBS2’s Michele Gile spoke to residents angered by the hate speech.

The vandalism has them asking lots of questions.

“The ‘Los’ [in Los Ranchos Estates] was crossed out,” said Jermaine Griggs, “and the N word was placed there.”

“They told me I could not file a police report,” said Sonya Weaver-Johnson, “because it was not on my personal property.”

One couple says their children began asking questions about what the words meant as they drove past the signs headed to school.

Johnson, who is the president of one of the homeowner’s associations within Coto, says she called a sheriff’s department dispatcher and the HOA to report the hateful graffiti.

She and a group of neighbors met with reporters Friday afternoon. They were critical of why it took maintenance crews in the upscale development more than 24 hours to remove the words in bright red spray paint.

“I think an hour is an hour too late for something like this,” said Griggs. “We had windstorms just last week and by morning on our street, they were cleaning it up.”

An administrative assistant for the association told Gile the graffiti was removed as soon as possible but she did say that she understands that for some it wasn’t fast enough.

According to Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Mark Stichter no call was received by dispatch. The first his department heard of this incident he said was today.

“The Sheriff’s department never refuses to go out on a call,” Stichter said, “if we are called and asked for a report to be taken, we go out and take it. There seems to be a little bit of confusion as where exactly that call ended up, which right now appears to be not through dispatch.”

Coto de Caza is also home to many of the housewives in the “Real Housewives of Orange County” franchise.

Deputies have launched an investigation.