A racial slur on the sidewalk at the corner of Charter Street and Spring Street is still in place after at least one year since it was engraved in.

University of Wisconsin senior Justin Vazquez noticed the phrase “Chinks Go Home” and submitted a picture of it to The Badger Herald. The racial slur was originally drawn in the sidewalk’s wet cement and is now permanently carved between the railroad tracks.

Vazquez said he is appalled that the writing was never removed.

“I’m curious why I’m the only one that’s noticed it for how long it’s been there,” Vazquez said, saying he first noticed the markings six months ago.

The Madison Police Department, UW police department and city street-engineering employees did not know the slur was there.

A Charter Heating Facility employee who wished to remain anonymous said he knew the writing was there. He said he has discussed the markings with other plant workers, although he has never seen them himself.

“It’s been there at least a couple of years,” he said.

City engineer Bill Schlotthauer said contractors poured new concrete into the area’s sidewalks sometime last year. UW Physical Plant Associate Director Kris Ackerbauer said the city revamped sidewalks throughout Madison last fall, but he did not know if the Charter and Spring Street area was also redone.

Schlotthauer said the city must maintain the sidewalks and remove any vandalism, but the contractors who did the original job should not have let the markings slip through unnoticed.

“If we have anything like that, we’ll remove it and redo it,” Schlotthauer said. “But the contractors themselves are responsible for the quality of that work.”