A group of local parents went to work Saturday morning to remove raciss graffiti left on the sign of a Middletown elementary school.
The parents began scrubbing the graffiti off the Herbert Hoover Elementary School sign along Trenton Road after spotting “no n***ers aloud” and “non black school” when heading to a soccer practice. The graffiti was removed and there was no lasting damage to the sign, officials and community members have said.
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Neshaminy School District spokesman Chris Stanley said the principal was notified and staff came in Saturday morning to remove graffiti from the windows of the school following the removal work on the sign completed by the public.
Middletown Chief of Police Joseph Bartorilla told LevittownNow.com that the graffiti incident happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday night. Officers brought in a K-9 unit to track the suspect but lost him in the area of the Middletown Trace Apartments.
The suspect, the chief said, appeared to be a white male teenager who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, black pants and carried a backpack.
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Aside from the sign out front of the school, the building was hit with racist statements and the nearby apartment complex had drawings of penises on the windows, Bartorilla said.
The Peace Center in Langhorne made a social media post over the weekend about the incident and noted they are planning “to bring the community together for dialogue and action to address the hatred.”
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Stanley said the district was not aware of any community meeting and had no plans to hold one at this time.
“At this point it is an isolated incident,” he said.
Bartorilla said the graffiti was applied with washable marker.
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Police in Middletown have investigated some minor graffiti incidents over the past few months, but none appear linked to Friday night’s incident.
Investigators would like to speak with anyone who has information on the incident or suspect at 215-949-1000 or via their anonymous tip line at 215-750-3888.
