The Nantucket Police Department is investigating racist and profane graffiti spray-painted on the front of the York Street African Meeting House sometime Saturday night.

More than a dozen community members gathered to scrub and sand the paint off the front door and shingles by 10 a.m. Sunday, but not before police had gathered a sample in an evidence bag.

“I broke down, I was hysterical,” said African Meeting House Director Charity-Grace Mofsen, of seeing the words “N----- Leave” and a phallic symbol spray-painted on the side of the building, which dates to 1827. “I cried.”

Mofsen said her mood quickly turned when friends and neighbors came to the site with sheets to cover the graffiti and then sponges and soap to remove it.

“Nantucket has such a rich history, it’s what brought me to the island,” Mofsen said. “Seeing how whites and blacks and natives were able to figure out how to live and work together so early on. So to see that once again we have people coming together when they see that something is wrong and hateful, we get together and say ‘This is not what we stand for, this is not what our island is about.’ I think it is good to see people come out and show their support.”

Mofsen said if she had an opportunity to speak with the person or people responsible, she would invite them inside the building to show them the rich history of Africans-Americans on Nantucket.

“I would want to teach them something because I feel that whoever has done something like this, they are missing something,” she said “They need to realize if it was directed to me personally, I’m not a threat to them. I’m your neighbor, I’m your friend. If it was to make a statement to the community, likewise. We are your neighbors, we are your friends and this is our home, too. Whatever hate they have, whatever it’s based in, there is no place for it here. In order to survive on this island 30 miles out to sea, we have to work together.”

The building stands on what was once a corner plot of an area known as New Guinea, a segregated community that housed escaped slaves, Native Americans, Cape Verdeans, Quakers, educators and abolitionists, according to the Museum of African American History website. It was initially used as a church, school and meeting house and was still being used as a social center as late as the 20th century.

A restoration of the building was completed in 1999 and it has been open on a seasonal basis ever since, according to the website.

According to a police statement, the vandalism is believed to have occurred between 4 p.m. Saturday and 6:45 a.m. Sunday. Police received the call at 7 a.m. Sunday, and officers interviewed neighbors to determine if anyone saw or heard anything unusual during the overnight hours.

Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the Nantucket Police Department at 508-228-1212.