A California community is banding together to protect one of their own after a local Asian-American family fell victim to a series of hateful attacks.

Haijun Si moved his family to the United States from China four years ago, and in September, settled into a home in Ladera Ranch, an upscale Orange County neighborhood, theLos Angeles Timesreported.

But almost immediately, Si, his wife, and their two young children became the targets of harassment from a group of about 20 neighborhood teenagers, who repeatedly rang the doorbell late at night, threw rocks at the home and hurled racial slurs.

“My kids are scared. I’m very annoyed,” Si, 48, told theTimes. “At night, my wife and I could not sleep for more than three or four hours. Please, parents, tell your kids don’t do that again.”

Si made efforts to keep the vandals at bay, installing a new fence and cameras, and even got the local sheriff’s department to launch an investigation.

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“I did not understand the extent of the harassment and how often it was occurring, at first. I was immediately outraged and wanted to help,” neighbor Layla Parks told theTimes.

When Parks learned of the Si family’s plight, she shared footage of one of the attacks to a local Facebook group, and soon, people were volunteering to stand watch in an effort that began on Feb. 13, according to theWashington Post.

“This harassment started almost immediately upon them moving here, and the fact that it was so clearly tied to their race is deeply upsetting,” neighbor Olivia Fu toldKABC.

Parks, meanwhile, told theTimesthat the harassment railed against the Si family made her “physically ill,” and that it has opened her eyes to the fact that racism is “alive and well” in Ladera Ranch.

“It’s definitely made me sad for this community, because this is just a wonderful place full of friends and neighbors that love and care about each other,” she told theTimes.

Ladera Ranch is not the only area facing such issues:violent attacks against Asian Americans have been on the risein the rest of California, too, as well as in major cities like New York City.

Preliminary statistics from 2020 indicate a tenfold increase in hate incidents against Asian Americans in Orange County specifically, Alison Edwards, chief executive of the nonprofit OC Human Relations, told theTimes.

Though the newly organized neighborhood watch has helped keep harassers away, the outlet reported that a group did recently throw rocks at Si and volunteers one evening.

Despite the attacks, community members like Priscilla Huang, cofounder of the advocacy organization Asian Americans in Action, have continued to fight to make sure everyone feels welcome in the community.

To help mark the final day of Lunar New Year, Huang helped organize a celebration to bring people together and “show up for one another,” she told KABC.

“I love my neighbors,” Si told thePost. “I love my community, and I love my country.”

source: people.com