A morning walk to finish off the long weekend turned into shock for one Windsor man.
Shaun Campbell was out for a walk near the WFCU Centre Monday morning with his wife and teenage daughter when he came across vandalism that featured vulgar and derogatory slang as well as swastikas.
According to Campbell, he was on Little River Trail underpass near McHugh Street when he discovered it. He said he and his family couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"My first thought is, this is disgusting," he said. "My first thought was how can we get the city crews here to get rid of this right away, this has no place here."
Campbell said he immediately sent photos of the graffiti to his councillor as well as Mayor Drew Dilkens in hopes of getting it removed. He also talked to other people on the trail who informed him that the police had already been called to the scene.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
Ward 7 Councillor Irek Kusmierczyk responded to his email later that day saying, "I have shared right away it with our city staff."
City crews are cleaning it up.
While it's not unusual for Campbell and his family to come across graffiti on their walks, he said it's definitely out of the ordinary for them to see something this "hate-filled."
"[My daughters] know that there are people out there with disgusting opinions. I think my daughter who saw was kind of disappointed that it's in this community as well," he explained.
Campbell's experience comes less than a week after police announced that they were investigating a hate crime that took place near the corner of Parent Avenue at Assumption Street. In that incident, a swastika had also been spray-painted on an SUV, in addition to racially derogatory words written down the side of the vehicle. Campbell said he was aware of that crime.
"That came to mind as well," he said. "This vandalism is cowardly. It's someone who's come in the middle of the night to express their heinous views, but they know it's not accepted in society, so they have to do it the middle of the night with a can of spray paint."
He hopes the culprits know that what they did is never okay.
"Those of us who don't believe in that sort of thing need to continue speaking out about it, so that people who did think this way know it's unacceptable to express these views," he said.