The threats, found Thursday, were the latest in a string of Orange County graffiti messages calling on people to kill others. Earlier threats in Santa Ana, Brea, Irvine and Anaheim targeted Catholics, Asians, Hispanics and blacks. Thursday's were the first to threaten Brown.

"Every community experiences some form of graffiti," said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez, "but to see hateful messages like this is rare, especially when you're dealing with the message of killing added to religion, ethnicities and now aimed at a politician."

The Lost Angeles Times reports:

At least nine incidents of similar graffiti, often in black paint with misspellings and advocating violent death, were reported in the last two weeks, before the threats against Brown were discovered.

The graffiti threatening the governor were discovered in Santa Ana on Thursday morning, written on two walls several blocks apart. One message, on a whitewashed brick wall on well-traveled Segerstrom Avenue, read "26 MORE DAYS 4 BROWN" in black and red paint. A swastika was painted next to it and the number 27 had been crossed out and replaced with 26.

The other read "We gonna kill GOV. BROWN 2/14/11."

Officials are looking into the possibility the graffiti is the work of the same person or group.