DENTON — A North Texas homeowners association is offering a reward after a sign was targeted with a racially-charged phrase.

Vandals rearranged letters on a sign leading into Denton's Oakmont Estates neighborhood to read, '[N-words] keep out.'

Delphine Sumrall, an Oakmont resident, said her husband, a truck driver, came across the sign as he was driving home at about 4 a.m. Saturday morning.

"I just didn't believe my eyes," she said. "Neither did my husband."

While the sign is now blank, Mr. Sumrall told his wife about the vandalism as soon as he saw the sign.

"He called me, woke me up out of my sleep [and said] he had something to show me," Mrs. Sumrall said. "... I was devastated. You know, it's 2008."

Danny Dowds, Sumrall's neighbor and family friend, said he was also disturbed to hear about the vandalism.

"It's just kind of pathetic that it's going on this day and time, that there's so much racism going on," he said.

Denton police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

"We don't know if it's children," Mrs. Sumrall said. "We don't even know if it's even anyone who lives in our neighborhood. I just don't want to be scared to come into my own home."

The Oakmont Estates Homeowners Association is also offering a reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.

E-mail bgreene@wfaa.com