RANGELEY – Police are investigating the spray painting of vulgar words and racial slurs on a road, a sign and some property at the Round Pond development and think it may be a hate crime.

Rangeley police officer Brian Hughes said he was called by the residential development owner about 4 p.m. Saturday asking Hughes to come to the Dodge Pond Road.

Land plots are divided for the development but no houses have built there yet, Hughes said.

“When I got there I saw spray paint all over a sign and other pieces of property and the roadway,” Hughes said.

Vulgar words were painted on the road and anti-semantic racial slurs were painted on other places, he said.

“I believe with the items damaged and racial slurs, it looks like a possible hate crime,” Hughes said.

He plans to ask the staff at the Office of the Maine Attorney General to review the case and possibly assist with it, he said.

If anyone has information about the case, they’re asked to call Hughes at 864-3579.

The owners of the property had once proposed building Rangeley Camp, a summer youth camp, on the 300-plus acres of land around Round Pond.