‘White Power’ painted on Bonita Springs Middle School sign

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. The “White Power” slogan and a swastika were spray-painted onto a sign in front of Bonita Springs Middle School.

The graffiti was discovered Monday morning and removed by Monday afternoon. The school district is working with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the incident.

Classes went on as normal Monday at the school on West Terry Street, but nearby residents, like Danny Owen, expressed shock and concern.

“I’m horrified by somebody that would do something like that,” Owen said.

Owen’s neighbor Lisa Amodeo questioned the safety of the school.

“To see this at our local school is just very frightening,” Amodeo said.

The school district declined specific comment on the incident.

Several similar messages have shown up in recent months on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus. A racial slur was written on a whiteboard outside of a professor’s office in October 2016 and the words “KILL (N-word)” were written in capital letters above a drawing that depicted a stick figure being hung from a tree.

Another message that read “Noose Tying 101” was spotted on an FGCU library whiteboard less than a month later. And in November someone keyed a slur for homosexuals onto an FGCU student’s vehicle.