For eight years, a private Confederate memorial has sat off US 92 in Seffner, but since December the monument has been vandalized twice.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office tells us they received a report on Sunday from a passerby who noticed red paint poured across the monuments at Confederate Memorial Park at 10418 U.S. Highway 92 East.
You could find red paint on the monuments that listed ancestors and sponsors along with paint across historical plaques and signs. Along with that, deputies found derogatory comments written in paint on the memorials.
Mike Herring, a groundskeeper of the park visits the site often to make sure it's kept tidy, but he along with several others spent hours on Sunday scrubbing the red paint from all the monuments and the sidewalk.
"Vandalizing private or personal property or public property is no way to get a point across," he said, "if you want to sit down with us and talk about your disagreements with what we have here, that's fine, we'll talk all day and all week if you want."
The park is on private land and has been funded through private donations since 2009.
Herring, disturbed by events across the country this past weekend, doesn't see vandalism as a solution.
There are gates and hours listed outside the park, but there's still access to the site -- something Herring says likely needs to change.
"We're going to have to seriously look at upgrading our efforts here," said Herring.
As of now, the sheriff's office has not said if they have any leads, but they're asking for the publics help if anyone saw anything Sunday morning.
If you have any information call 813-247-8200.
