Racist Graffiti Found At Town-Owned Surf Club Playground

MADISON, CT —Wednesday night, a Madison Public Schools employee and his family visited the town-owned Surf Club. When they arrived, they found the playground open. Their son went on the slide and there discovered racist graffiti.

They posted what happened on a community Facebook page. They called police but said they were told that officers were busy with an accident. In the Facebook post, they asked to whom should they report the racist tagging.

That post has since been removed.

“Hey all. My family went to the Surf Club tonight and found the playground was open. My son was on the slide and found a racist comment written on it. My wife didn't know who to call to have it removed so she called the Madison police but they were busy with the accident. Hopefully these comments won't appear again but if they do, who should be contact? Thanks in advance.”

Patch saw the post and took a screenshot late Wednesday night when it had many comments and reactions. Then, Patch sent a text to Madison Police Capt. Joseph Race who was on the scene of a fatal crash on Durham Road, until after midnight. Thursday morning, an email was sent to First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons as well as a follow-up with Race.

On Friday morning, Lyons responded:

“Obviously this was a very disturbing incident and sad to see at one of our public facilities,” she wrote, noting that police were contacted and, copying Race on the email, suggested Patch contact Race.

She said that, “Our Beach & Recreation department found out about the incident via FB and cleaned it up yesterday morning.”

Race told Patch Friday that he did not see the graffiti.

Patch reached out to the person who reported the racist comment via Facebook direct message but has not heard back.