BYRON, Ga. — What's now been spray-painted and power-washed over was once derogatory words at North Peach Park, but community members came together to clean it up.
When Tammy Parker and her husband Donnie Wayne Parker saw a photo shared on Facebook with the words "Go back to Mexico" and a swastika, she says she knew they had to do something.
"I just got mad. I mean, it's just not the place, it's not acceptable," says Parker. "We were the first ones there, but immediately, people started to show up."
That's when the Parkers loaded up their power washer and went to the soccer fields, but there wasn't just graffiti on the ground.
"There's a small shed with plastic vinyl, it was tagged with all four sides. Then there's a little concession stand bathroom building on the other side, they had tagged the windows, they're metal-framed windows, they had tagged those. We fixed that just by spray painting it black, and just completely covered it up," says Parker.
Parker says with the help of community members, including the local Patriot Reserve Unit, they covered up and removed most of the damage. All that is left is remnants of black spray paint. Parker says that's good enough for them.
"There's a lot of people who use that park, it was in a location where there's some walk ways so people walk through there a lot, you could take your kids on their bikes. You know, people just shouldn't have to see that," she says.
Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon says this is an active investigation.
If you have any information that could help with the investigation, please call the Byron Police Department at 478-956-2880.