MADISON, Wis. -- A Madison neighborhood came together Tuesday to take a stand against racism.

Hundreds of residents on the city's southwest side attended a candlelight vigil after at least a dozen incidents of racist graffiti.

The graffiti, which included drawings of swastikas and the words "White Power" on a variety of fences on other surfaces, was seen in the area around Falk Elementary School last week.

Area residents and neighborhood leaders started gathering at Hammersley Park at 4:30 p.m. They marched through the neighborhood to send a clear, visible message to those responsible that hate crimes won't be tolerated and the neighborhood will not be divided.

"It was appalling that somebody in our neighborhood or someone came into our neighborhood to do something like that," neighbor Sharon Whitney said. "We all care about each other here, and if you come after one of us or some of us, you come after all of us."

Whitney said she marched because in her 44 years of living in the neighborhood, she's never seen anything like the racist graffiti that was discovered in the area last week.

"This really needs to stop, that's why we're all coming together," said Shaniya Jackson, an elementary school student who lives in the neighborhood. She said she was scared after the graffiti turned up.

City leaders said the incidents are still under investigation, but they're inspired by the way neighbors are reacting.

"What's really neat about what happened was residents -- not led by city leaders or alders -- came together and acted, and said we're not going to take this," said Matt Phair, District 10 alderman. "It's just people coming together to say we're not going to put up with it."

Following the vigil, participants walked to Falk Elementary School to talk about the issues and discuss more things they can do to prevent these types of crimes from happening in their community.

Residents said they may never know who was responsible for the crimes, but they're hopeful those responsible now know they're not wanted in the neighborhood.

"We just will not have this kind of behavior in our neighborhood," Whitney said.