ROCKFIELD, Ky. (AP) -- A Hispanic family in south-central Kentucky are afraid to stay in their new home after finding a cross burning in their front yard and a sign that said “My country maybe, my neighborhood NO WAY!!!”

Nelson Espinoza, a native of El Salvador, said his family has stayed with relatives since they found the cross and the sign Sunday afternoon. He said he only bought the house in Rockfield two months ago.

“They don’t want me here,” Espinoza said. “They say I can live in the United States, but I can’t live in their neighborhood.  I can’t be a neighbor here.”

The Warren County sheriff’s department was investigating it as a hate crime.

Daniel Alexander, a spokesman for the department, said extra patrols have been assigned to the neighborhood.

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Information from: WBKO-TV, http://www.wbko.com (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

APTV-09-13-06 1003EDT