A swastika drawn with what appeared to be a carrot on a Putney sidewalk is under investigation by the Windham County Sheriff's Office.

During the Sept. 28 meeting of the Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, the meeting minutes note that committee member Nate Snell, who is also a member of the Select Board, spotted the graffiti on Sept. 27.

Sheriff Mark Anderson said his office was notified of the graffiti on Kimball Hill on Monday.

"We recognize the reason for upset and we don't condone hate," said Sheriff Mark Anderson. "But we also don't have the tools to solve this."

Swift Everdy, a co-chair of the Putney's Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee said the committee discussed the graffiti at its regular meeting the next day.

Everdy said it might seem childish that someone drew a swastika with a carrot, but normalising any such expression is dangerous and it shows a pattern of hateful visible acts locally.

"It's a teachable moment of recognizing that this happens here in Putney," said Everdy. "It happens every day in Vermont. This is not to normalize it, but clearly something needs to change. We are in a world now where this has always has been happening, but maybe we're finally ready to confront it in a more direct way."

The big question is, she said, how do towns like Putney respond to hateful incidents.

"The best way is to be transparent about what's happening and doing our best to help heal harm by creating community spaces for conversations and systems to address future actions."