'I dont' feel safe': Car defaced with racist, vulgar graffiti latest in vandalism string in Fayetteville

A car was defaced with racist and vulgar graffiti Monday in Fayetteville.

The car was one of multiple cars in the parking deck on Hay Street that had graffiti spray-painted on it.

“I had to turn around, I thought I was at the wrong car,” One of the victims said. “I turned and looked again. I couldn’t process why silver spray paint would be on the side of my car.”

The woman, who wished to be identified as “Mrs. Shirley,” said her 2023 Ford Explorer had racist signs, including the KKK sign and a swastika, spray-painted on the back and sides. Vulgar images were also spray painted on the car.

Mrs. Shirley, a 22-year Army veteran, thinks her car was targeted because she keeps her VFW hat in the window.

“You need to get a clue. You are attacking people who live here, who protected this country and attacking people who are innocent,” Mrs. Shirley said.

The graffiti is the most recent in a string of racist graffiti spray painting in the city. Two churches in Fayetteville were target with racist graffiti, with one church receiving bomb threats.

18-year-old Dominic Smith was arrested in the church spray paintings at Unity Tabernacle Church, but there is no word if the incidents at the churches and the parking deck are connected.

While there is no official reason why Mrs. Shirley’s vehicle was targeted, she says the incident has her worried for her well-being.

“I don’t feel safe. Never in my life have I had a safety issue in my mind,” she said.