When the sun came up Tuesday morning in Vicksburg, it didn’t take long for the police department to receive reports of vandalism in two downtown locations that officials said seemed to be connected.

“Somebody painted graffiti on the side of the building,” Vicksburg Civil War Museum owner Charles Pendleton told The Vicksburg Post Tuesday. “The word ‘liars.’”

Pendleton speculated that the graffiti was in response to the content of the museum and its ties to race and social issues. He also reported a second site in downtown being vandalized with a similar message.

“They said that down the hill at the Illinois monument, someone wrote ‘rebel forever,’ or something like that,” he said.

The actual message of the graffiti read “Dixie forever” and was scrawled across the Illinois monument mural at the City Front across from Catfish Row Art Park.

Thursday morning, Vicksburg Chief of Police Penny Jones said the vandalism is still under investigation.

“We’re working on it now,” Jones said. “We had several different camera views. We are working on it.”

Anyone with additional information about the vandalism is encouraged to contact the Vicksburg Police Department at 601-636-2511.