A Cranston man has been charged in connection with the recent rash of offensive and racist stickers posted around Warren.

Zachary Pickering, 22, turned himself in to Warren police Friday morning after an investigation determined he was responsible for posting a sticker with a "racist connotation" at the Warren Dog Park in late April, department spokesman Lt. Christopher Perreault said. He was arraigned on one count of vandalism Friday and released on $1,000 bond. A pre-trial conference in Sixth Division District Court is scheduled for Friday, June 25.

Lt. Perreault said the sticker allegedly posted by Mr. Pickering was first spotted on Saturday, April 24. Police removed it and sent it to the Rhode Island Crime Laboratory, where technicians were able to obtain fingerprints that led investigators to him.

The appearance this Spring of dozens of stickers bearing racist and homophobic images and phrases shocked many in Warren. An anti-hate rally was held in front of Warren Town Hall, members of the Warren Town Council and the Warren town manager sharply condemned the stickers and the hate behind them, and a Warren resident started monthly peace rallies at the Warren Town Common in reaction to them.

On the same day the dog park sticker was discovered in Warren, similar stickers were found posted throughout downtown Bristol. An investigation by Bristol Police led to a Warwick resident, who was identified as the alleged poster by fingerprint evidence left on three stickers recovered by investigators in that town.