Suffolk police say they are investigating after a flyer for a South Country School District school board candidate was found defaced with a racist message.

Police say the candidate, Cameron Trent, found the flyer in his mailbox May 9 with his face crossed out and a message using a racial slur scrawled onto it.

“I was just speechless,” Trent says. “I’m still kind of in shock. Just trying to stay focused on the campaign.”

Trent has been vice president of the board of Education in Bellport for two years.

He says he never received any hate mail or racist messages, but that changed during the reelection.

They say Suffolk County Police Hate Crimes Unit detectives are investigating.

Trent thanked those close to him for their support in a Facebook post, saying, "I believe now is the time to come together as a community that's full of diversity and speak truth to hate.

This election has become a referendum on who we are and where we want to be as a community."

Elaine Gross, president of the group ERASE Racism, has called on Long Island elected officials and the candidates in the May 18 school board elections to denounce the act.

Suffolk County Police Chief Stuart Cameron says “aggressive and disturbing language and something like that just will not be tolerated in Suffolk County.”

Cameron says he believes it was a targeted attack because of the location of the flyer and because the election is so soon.