Neighbours clean racist graffiti from black family’s house before they can see it

Local residents repaint the house and remove all vulgar messages

Marvin Phillips was away on holiday when the vandalism took place (KTVB)

A group of neighbours came together to clean a black family’s house that had been spraypainted with racial slurs while they were away on holiday, ensuring they wouldn't be confronted with the abuse when they returned home.

The Phillips family, from Tenino, Washington, had gone camping in the mountains, only for their house to be vandalised with racist slogans and the letters “KKK” in their absence.

Heidi Russell, a neighbour, was appalled and moved quickly to organise a group of local volunteers to erase the messages and repaint the property, local news station KTVB reported.

"It made me want to cry when I saw it," Ms Russell told KTVB. "It was terrible.

“My biggest concern was getting this done before the family came home because they have small children.”

Marvin Phillips, the owner of the property and a father of five, said: “I’m overwhelmed and I’m shocked. I was hurt because I don’t know who did this.”

After spending the morning painting, all visible signs of the messages were completely erased by the volunteers.

Mr Phillips expressed his gratitude to Ms Russell and her team.

The identity of the party responsible remains unknown.