Racist Graffiti Found On Local University's Baseball Field
SALEM (CBS) – Salem State University is working to find who is responsible for racist graffiti found near the school's baseball field.
The vandal spray-painted "Trump #1," "whites only USA," and other hateful messages on the walls and benches.
"When I first saw it, I mean, I was just in shock. I just couldn't imagine how anyone could do that," said Sarah Maddux, who lives nearby.
The university sent a message to their community on Friday saying, "This morning, we learned that a racist message was written with spray paint on a wall lining the university's baseball field. We have yet to determine who is responsible and university police are investigating. Salem State has no tolerance for discrimination and hate, and we strongly reject and condemn this message. This deeply troubling language has no place at our university as we strive to be as inclusive a campus as possible. Again, please know that we are investigating and that this language does not represent the views of our university in any way."
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll echoed the school's stance and said the school's surveillance video was under review.
"It's an open, public space. Whether it would be a student or somebody who was just on the bike path that's next to it or an adult that happened to be passing by. Hard to know."
Driscoll continued, "I definitely feel like there's a lot of conversations on the national level that are trickling down here. And those words were just so hurtful."
It is not the first time Salem State has had to address racism.
Back in May, a hacker posted hateful messages about immigrants and the Black Lives Matter movement on the school's official Twitter account. The hack was one day before graduation.