OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — On Tuesday, June 16 around 7:35 p.m., Oak Ridge Police responded to reports of vandalism at the intersection on Wilberforce Avenue and S. Benedict Avenue.
When an officer arrived, they saw a swastika painted on a sign in the Scarboro community, a historically Black neighborhood, according to an ORPD report.
Early in the morning on Wednesday, June 17, Officer Garrett Robbins and Officer Christina Askren went to Walmart, bought paint on their own and cleaned up the sign before the sun came up, according to the city.
On June 23, officers returned two separate times for more reports of vandalism, according to ORPD reports.
The first was around 12:30 p.m. for a swastika painted on a speed limit sign near the same intersection as the Scarboro Community sign. Officers worked with the Public Works department to replace the sign with a new one, according to the city of Oak Ridge.
The second was just after 10 p.m. for a swastika painted on the side of a car near the same area, according to an ORPD report.
There are no suspects at this time, according to the city.
In the 1940s and '50s, during the Manhattan Project, Scarboro was an all-Black neighborhood. Students in the community attended Scarboro School before Oak Ridge High School was integrated in 1955.
