Anti-Semitic and racist graffiti was found near the Chappaqua train station earlier this week, officials say.

On the same day, police received reports of a Black Lives Matter flag being stolen off the lawn of the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco. A similar sign was stolen just a few days earlier from the First Congressional Church.

The town says of New Castle says that the two incidents are not linked, but condemned the vandalism in a statement on Facebook.

The town says it is doing its best to combat these acts, beginning with the creation of the New Castle Council on Race and Equity.

"I wanted to create this council to give a voice to the BIPOC members of the community, give them a safe place to discuss their worries, their concerns their challenges," says Zabeen Mirza, co-chairperson of the council.

 

In addition to these incidents, a Black Lives Matter sign was set on fire three weeks ago, and then a week later, a Black family had a noose painted outside of their home in Chappaqua.

Additionally, a TikTok video showing some Horace Greeley High School students using racial slurs resurfaced in June.

The Town's Holocaust and Human Rights Committee joined forces with Horace Greeley High School’s ENOUGH group. They say their work at the school has already created positive change among students.

"It's not just the clubs that are working on this," says Charlie Gordon, co-founder of ENOUGH. "It's the general community, it's the students. They really care about this."

Both the Human Rights Committee and the Council on Race and Equity agree that the time to act is now.

"I thought that the time was right considering the climate of the country," Mirza says. "Certainly, Chappaqua doesn't exist in a bubble or a vacuum."

The council says it will submit its recommendations to its co-chairs by the beginning of September before its plans are brought to the town by the beginning of October.