A black Navy sailor claimed he was the victim of racist graffiti — then the truth was revealed

A Navy sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush has been reprimanded by his unit after it was revealed he wasn't actually a victim of racist graffiti like he claimed.

What happened?

On Nov. 15, 27-year-old Navy seaman Marquie Little posted several photos to his personal Facebook page of his bunk aboard the Bush, which had purportedly been the target of a racist attack. The pictures showed the word "n*****" written in different areas around Little's bunk, including on his bed. The pictures also showed his personal area in complete disarray as if it had been attacked.

"I am a United States sailor. I proudly serve the Navy and this is what I'm receiving in return. #SailorAskingForHelp things are getting out of hand. Please share. Somebody knows something. (Thank you all for you guidance)," Little wrote in his now-deleted Facebook post.

The post went viral and had tens of thousands of shares before Little deleted it.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and command officers immediately began investigating Little's claims, and according to Military.com, the investigation concluded several days ago with shocking results.

What did investigator's find?

Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesman Commander Dave Hecht told Military.com: "After a thorough investigation was conducted with the assistance of NCIS, several indicators supported the conclusion that the incident was staged."

Hecht further explained there were many inconsistencies in Little's account of what happened and, despite the fact the Navy believes the incident was staged, Little has stood by his account of what happened claiming he has nothing to gain from lying.

What is Little's punishment?

For lying to his superiors and criminal investigators, Military.com reported that Little was "disciplined," although it wasn't clear what disciplinary actions the military took. He will also be required to complete additional training. However, he is still with his unit and performing his normal duties.

Hecht said the Navy is also using the incident as a "learning opportunity."

"The chain of command has used the incident to provide additional training to the crew and re-emphasize that vandalism and racism will not be tolerated. It has also been reiterated to the ship that the chain of command has an open door policy for reporting incidents of misconduct," he said.