PITTSBURGH -- A North Side deli owner faces customer criticism after an employee wore a racially offensive T-shirt.

A black woman was shocked to see a clerk at the North Shore Deli on East Ohio Street wearing a shirt that depicted blacks hanging from nooses.

Community activist Paradise Gray said the clerk, a 20-year-old white man, refused to answer questions about the shirt.

"It's extremely insensitive to wear that shirt without being able to represent what it means to you, yourself and if someone is offended and they tell you, 'Hey, what's that about,' and you don't know how to verbalize it, you shouldn’t be wearing it," said Gray.

The deli owner told Gray the shirt had been confiscated.

The designer of the T-shirt, 19-year-old Joe Yanick, said he is very apologetic and the shirts were not meant to be racist.

“We're trying to say it's not up to the government. It's up to the everyday person and if you can stop racism, you should do everything you can,” said Yanick.

There have been multiple racially offensive incidents in the Pittsburgh region this month.

A worker at a construction site in O'Hara Township found a noose in his work area. A Verizon worker from Butler County said someone left a noose around a doll's neck with a note saying she didn't deserve a promotion. A doll bearing a racial slur was found hanging in the hallway of the Port Authority's East Liberty garage.

Police continue to investigate all of the incidents.

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Statement From Karl Mattern, Owner Of North Shore Deli:
"The T-shirt was misread and misinterpreted. The T-shirt says ‘Masakari’ not ‘Massacre'. Masakari is the name of a punk rock band and is also the name of a Japanese sword. The person who started this did not have all the facts of the T-shirt and as a result, the reputation of my business has been jeopardized. This is affecting my livelihood and the means of supporting my family. The North Shore Deli has been in my family in the North Side community for the past 25 years. Everyone who has patronized my business has never been disrespected, mistreated or categorized."

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