Rhode Island officials removed illegal signs from one of the state’s parks that authorities said had racist and hateful messages on them.

The metal signs posted on trees at Lincoln Woods State Park had an identical design to the park’s official signs, and one of the signs even said it came from the Rhode Island Division of Parks and Recreation.

However, one of the postings instructed park goers to “Please do not play loud Spanish music in this area.”

The other sign said “Hiking challenge” and then instructed Black hikers to go one way, Latino hikers to go a different direction before it said “Whites go back.”

The state’s Department of Environmental Management said that the signs were taken down immediately when they were discovered late last week.

“It’s particularly sad that vandals have targeted Lincoln Woods, RI’s first state park which since 1909 has existed to afford “the greatest good for the greatest number,” the agency said in a tweet. “DEM strongly condemns racism + discrimination + our Div. of Law Enforcement is investigating these acts of criminal vandalism.”

Mike Healey, a spokesperson for the DEM, described the signs as sickening.

“We think that whoever did this, is posting these signs — whatever their intentions — that they’re hateful morons,” Mr. Healey told WLNE-TV in Providence.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.