HENDERSON, Texas — The night before Henderson's annual Juneteenth parade on Saturday, several tents that were put up ahead of the celebration were vandalized.
"It is a lot of hard work to get done, and for somebody to come and destroy it for a celebration for us, for our heritage," committee member Dorethea Polk Crain said.
The tents appeared to be cut and now committee members are looking for answers.
"As a Juneteenth committee member, we just want to make sure that whoever is responsible is prosecuted at the fullest extent," committee member Peggy McAlister said.
Organizers say when they made the discovery, they were in shock.
"It makes me feel like our event, what we are celebrating doesn’t matter, but Juneteenth does matter because 1865, June 19, all enslaved were free," McAlister said.
Despite the setback, organizers say it was the biggest turnout in almost a decade.
"It was magnificent, we traveled from downtown Henderson into Yates Park, and so that destruction did not deter us one bit. It just gave us more energy and more fire to celebrate freedom,' McAlister said.
The community also brought out tents to show support and helped make the event a success.
Anyone who has any information regarding the vandalism is urged to call the Henderson Police Department.