An Arby's restaurant in Minneapolis was vandalized overnight turning the sign into a racist and sexist message of hate.
As early morning commuters noticed the sign the calls came into the police station and notifications on social media were sent to the restaurant chain. The offensive language was immediately taken down and Arby's offered an apology for people who witnessed the sign.
"Overnight, our reader board was compromised & someone put up a message that was extremely offensive. The message has since been taken down. We're cooperating with local law enforcement officials & will take appropriate action against those involved," Arby's Guest support tweeted Saturday.
@TawannaABlack Overnight, our reader board was compromised & someone put up a message that was extremely offensive.… https://t.co/kzBwgI7Vva— Arby's Guest Support (@Arby's Guest Support) 1535816478.0
@TawannaABlack We apologize to everyone exposed to that message.— Arby's Guest Support (@Arby's Guest Support) 1535816494.0
Before it was taken down the original sign was captured and posted to Twitter.
On my way to the barbershop this morning on Brooklyn Blvd. https://t.co/PLm63R7vbJ— Coach McKenzie (@Coach McKenzie) 1535807097.0
This couldn’t have been real 😳 A Minnesota Arby's apologized after a 'Now Hiring' sign was altered to display a rac… https://t.co/fFI7ZiJHvA— Blavity News (@Blavity News) 1536078874.0
Brooklyn Park Arby's sign rewritten into racist message https://t.co/oEbc4bHrc6 https://t.co/U4XqZthx7l— City Pages (@City Pages) 1535825921.0
@citypages The person(s) who did this are horrible people. Hugs to all the rest of us who are offended by this van… https://t.co/H9X7PA8QCo— Dorrie Seaver (@Dorrie Seaver) 1535847497.0
This IS America! https://t.co/maJg2Sa9I6— Herman Pittman (@Herman Pittman) 1536173935.0
@citypages Well damn! https://t.co/tBWh2FImKb— Joyce Johnson (@Joyce Johnson) 1535827988.0
The sign was later taken down by police.
This isn't the first time a racial incident has occurred in a restaurant in the U.S. this year.
Last month, Tamika Sanders, a North Dallas woman, accused the owner of a pizza shop of racism after an online video surfaced of man harassing her with racial slurs. The man, alleged to be pizza shop owner Carlos Pinto, was videotaped calling authorities to remove Sanders and her aunt, Shiri Gupton at the restaurant. Pinto tells the police he has "trouble" at his establishment; one of the women is overheard saying "Darkies you called us, darkies."
"He was angry and hateful and this place is not safe for us," Sanders previously told Newsweek. "We need to speak out so no one will spend their money there every again."
In February, Taco Bell fired an employee at a Philadelphia location after they wrote the word "Chink" on a customer's receipt. The incident went viral after Young Lee, a student at the University of Philadelphia, shared the story on Facebook.
"We do not tolerate this behavior. This employee no longer works for the brand, and the franchisee is retraining its staff to ensure this incident will not happen again. Management has reached out to and apologized directly to the customer," representatives from Taco Bell wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian.