Lynnfield Officials Denounce Racist Graffiti, BLM Sign Theft

LYNNFIELD, MA — Lynnfield officials made a statement on Friday, denouncing the racist graffiti and theft of Black Lives Matter signs from lawns across town. The incidents happened earlier in the month.

The Board of Selectmen, police chief, and town administrator said the theft and vandalism "targeted wonderful Lynnfield families." The police are investigating the incidents and released home surveillance video and showed a woman grabbing a Black Lives Matter sign from a front lawn.

The graffiti is similar to racist vandalism that was found in the Pillings Pond area in the spring, police said.

Officials' statement reads as follows:

The Board of Selectmen, police chief, and town administrator wish to express our outrage over the recent theft of signs and the racist vandalism targeting wonderful Lynnfield families, and over the racist graffiti at Pillings Pond and the bridge on Partridge Island that occurred earlier this summer.

Racism and hate have no place in our community and an incident targeting one neighbor is an attack on all of us and the Lynnfield community values we hold dear. We stand in support and solidarity with the victims and all our neighbors who are affected by this assault on our community.

We want to be very clear to every citizen: our police department and town leadership are putting every resource and making every effort to put an end to this community shame. It is a top priority.

We are working diligently to solve these crimes and through a combination of excellent police work and community cooperation will be bringing criminal charges in connection with one incident soon.

To the individual or individuals responsible for these crimes, you will be held accountable for your actions and your hate. The police department has leads and is following up on evidence hourly. An investigation is ongoing so we cannot elaborate but know our police department wants nothing more than to stop these incidents and to hold the culprits accountable for their actions. Hate crime will not be tolerated.

Our police department needs every citizen as a partner to support us in the efforts to stop this hate. If you have any information regarding these incidents, please call our police department at 781-334-3131.

Lynnfield is a welcoming, caring community that lifts up all of our neighbors! Let us join together and never allow the unconscionable acts of a few define us and our community.