The vandals who spray-painted swastikas and a racial slur on a granite sign and damaged a mailbox at a youth home in Washington County created by Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame defensive back Mel Blount are a disgrace to what, for the most part, is a more enlightened time. Their detestable act is a throwback to the 1950s and earlier decades, when abhorrent acts against blacks and other minorities were more commonplace in this country than most right-thinking people who lived during those years want to remember.

But this is not the first time Blount, who is black, and his youth home have been targeted by people with a mind-set similar to the vandals'. While the home was being built - it opened in 1990 - the Ku Klux Klan held a rally and burned a cross in a field near the home.

Blount also received death threats.

Blount said he felt sick when he saw the swastikas and the slur painted on the sign in this latest incident. His reaction was understandable.

Most other people of that area no doubt reacted in a similar way when they learned that such a backward attitude still was reeling its ugly head around them.

Blount played for the Steelers from 1970 to 1983 and was a key component in the Steelers' four Super Bowl victories. He also was selected for five Pro Bowls.

To his credit, it opted to build the youth home to make a positive contribution to the Pittsburgh area outside the realm of sports.

Too bad there still are people too narrow-minded and racist to acknowledge something good created by someone with skin color different from their own. Hopefully, these individuals will eventually pay a price meted out by the criminal justice system for this demonstration of intolerance.