A Connecticut couple whose garage door was spray-painted with a racial slur now faces hundreds of dollars in fines for refusing to remove it.
Lexene Charles, 56, and his common-law wife, Heather Lindsay, 59, discovered the graffiti on their Stamford home last month.
"Our civil rights are being violated," Lindsay told a local newspaper when the garage was first vandalized.
Police had originally placed a tarp over the door, but it had been removed.
The couple says they’ve left the slur scrawled across their garage so the community doesn’t forget what happened.
The move hasn’t been sitting well with police, who have issued a blight citation. The City of Stamford has fined the couple $100 for each day the slur stays on their garage door.
Local
Stamford Chief of Police Jonathan Fontneau also visited their home and said they face arrest in addition to the fines.
Charles and Lindsay say they aren’t changing their minds and will fight the fines in court.
[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More
Lindsay said this isn't the first time there has been problems with the property.
"We aren’t going to let it bother us, because from what we are understanding as it sinks in, as we cry, and as we talk about it, this is just saying the way we have been treated," said Lindsay. "This is how Stamford, Conn. is treating us."
