A racial slur was painted on the outside gate of Cavalier LeBron James' Los Angeles home just a day before the basketball superstar was set to play in his seventh straight NBA finals and police are treating the incident as a hate crime.
Police were called to James' home Wednesday morning after the slur was discovered on the front gate.
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LeBron James' property vandalised
Basketball superstar LeBron James' Los Angeles home was vandalized with a racial slur, one day before the Cleveland Cavaliers player was set to take the court in the first game of the NBA finals.
James was not at the residence at the time as he and his teammates are in San Francisco preparing for game one of the finals against the Golden State Warriors.
TMZ Sports, which first reported the crime, notes that LeBron purchased the home in 2015.
![LeBron James was not at his LA home when it was vandalised.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170605165406im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/h/q/p/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwhqld.png/1496274086128.jpg)
Workers have already removed the vandalism.
Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from homes in the area in attempt to nab the culprit.
Bath Township police chief Michael B. McNeely said there is a 24-hour police presence at LeBron's home in the township.
James personally hires off-duty officers from the department, McNeely said, to ensure all is quiet in and around the home.
"You usually won't necessarily see the officer, but the officer is always there," he said.
With the NBA finals upon us, McNeely said, the department will beef up patrols in the neighborhood as they expect the number of sightseers to rise.
"If they win or lose we will be prepared for additional traffic," he said.
The fans are usually polite and move along when asked.
McNeely said there has not been a single incident of vandalism or other problems outside of LeBron's home since he moved to the township.
There have been, however, some arrests made in the street outside of the residence.
The chief said there have been a handful of incidents where passersby's have refused to promptly move their cars out of the roadway and when the officers have run their license found that there were warrants out for their arrests.
"We have really never had any issues at his home," McNeely said. "It is probably one of the most quiet places in Bath Township.
"We have a lot of traffic go by but we've never had any real problems."
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