CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A local family tells NBC Charlotte they recently came home to a spray-painted yard.
The graffiti started out as a smiley face. The next day, a sexually explicit image popped up on their property.
Shaunna Burns posted about the vandalism on Facebook, showing pictures of the paint in her grass and on her hands. She then asked if she should be worried about her family's safety.
Others reported similar situations involving spray paint.
"So I was at home, about to go to bed and I look over at the front door and I was like, 'this is foggy,'" said April Allison. "Open the door, and it had been spray painted."
April was one of the commenters.
"With this particular person that I had responded to, it's now happened twice where she's walked outside of her home and there has been spray paint in her yard. I believe the first time, it was a smiley face," April said.
Bur for April, this possible "prank" turned dangerous.
"About three months later, my home was broken into," she said.
And after that, April said her car was stolen.
"My grandmother calls me and she's like, 'is your car with you?'" April said. "And she's like, 'no. Well it's gone... I thought that 'OK, if this is a joke or a prank and you thought that's funny, you're a criminal and you spray painted my house.'"
"Of course, it's funny to you. It's not funny to me," she added.
After hearing the vandalism is affecting other families, April is hoping it ends here.
"You know, if it's a neighborhood kid, then OK it might end there, but let's say it's not," she said. "It does make you wonder if there is a connection to it. It definitely puts you on high."
Both April and Shaunna reported the incidents to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.