NEW YORK — A memorial to George Floyd in Brooklyn was found vandalized Thursday with the name of an organization deemed a hate group.

According to police, around 3:40 a.m. on Flatbush Avenue, four unknown people spraypainted the face of the statue of Floyd with black paint, and the words "PATRIOTFRONT.US" were written on the base of the statue. The Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed Patriot Front a white supremacist group.

The statue has since been covered to hide the graffiti.

The statue was unveiled on Juneteenth this past Saturday.

Police are investigating, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the state hate crimes task force to assist in the probe.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on Friday called for a federal investigation. 

“While vandalism can be cleaned, the desecration of the George Floyd statue in Flatbush is a lasting insult to every New Yorker. Just days after its unveiling on Juneteenth, and a day before the sentencing of Floyd’s murderer, this defacing that appears connected to a White supremacy hate group may have been an attempt to strike terror into our community — and it should be investigated accordingly," Adams said in a statement, referring to the Friday sentencing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. "I am calling for a Federal investigation into this incident in Brooklyn and a similarly destructive act on a statue in Newark, as well as any potential connection to the insurrection at the US Capitol this past January."

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