Vandals write hateful messages about people with Down syndrome at California center

ROSEVILLE, Calif. - Police in the Sacramento area are searching for the people who vandalized a center that assists people with Down syndrome.

The vandals targeted Gigi's Playhouse in Roseville late Friday night, just one week after the center opened.

The suspects damaged several posters of children with Down syndrome and scrawled hateful messages about people with special needs.

"To have it open for not even a full week and then find this awful hate speech written on one of our welcome windows was just an absolute gut punch," Nicole Harrigan, board president of Gigi's Playhouse, told KCRA. 

This act of vandalism is also going to take a big economic toll on this new center in Roseville.

Gigi's Playhouse is funded completely by donations and staffed by volunteers.