When Heather Lindsay and Lexene Charles discovered the n-word painted across their garage door on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, they decided to leave it up in plain view. The interracial couple says their home in Stamford, Conn., has been vandalized several times and at least three neighbors have shouted the n-word at Charles, but Lindsay tells the Stamford Advocate that police have been unresponsive. This time, the couple chose to leave the graffiti for the whole neighborhood to see—and they now face a hefty fine and possibily jail as a result. Stamford’s police chief says the couple faces arrest and a fine of $100 per day if they don’t respond to the city’s blight citation, reports NBC New York.

The city’s director of public safety calls the graffiti “disgusting” but says that no witnesses have been found and that neighbors are complaining. “There are kids in this neighborhood,” says one. “Why do we have to subject them to that?” But Lindsay, 59, says the graffiti won’t be removed until police “do their job” and “not just cover it up … as they have done in the past.” It “has to stop,” Charles, 56, tells ABC 7. The couple, who plan to fight any fines in court, are now asking police to investigate certain neighbors. “Act like you give a damn and make sure these people are protected,” says a NAACP rep. (A community rallied after a similar incident in Tenino, Wash.)