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The Bartley-Decatur Neighborhood Center, a gathering place for many diverse groups in a historic part of Springfield, was vandalized with racial slurs and phallic symbols spray-painted in neon colors.
Mark Dixon, the longtime director, said the damage was reported early Wednesday by one passerby after another. I was fighting back tears still am, he said.
Dixon said while the vandal, or vandals, failed to get inside, the brick façade of the two-story building and the ornate sign were not spared. Sometime last night or very early this morning, they decided to tag us up, Dixon said Wednesday. They have spray-painted, in fluorescent paint, both levels of the building and our sign out front including the n-word.