WASHINGTON _ Rick Perry’s presidential campaign said Sunday that his family moved quickly when they found they’d leased a Texas hunting camp informally named “niggerhead,” painting over the offensive word on a rock next to the camp entrance.

The rapid response from the Texas governor’s campaign, to a newspaper report Sunday about the camp name and to criticism from his one African-American rival, reflected an urgent move to stem any political fallout for a candidate who’s struggled to regain his footing since a weak debate in Florida and a surprise loss in a straw poll there.

The Washington Post reported Sunday morning that Perry’s family leased the Texas land starting in 1983, which already had the racially insulting name on a large rock beside one of the entrances.

The newspaper reported that Perry said his father painted over the word in the early 1980s, and that it was eventually turned over to further ensure the word couldn't be seen. But the newspaper also reported that some other visitors recalled seeing it displayed after the early 1980s.