Investigators with the L.A. County District Attorney’s public integrity unit served 10 search warrants in the City of Vernon on Wednesday, seeking evidence of misuse of public funds.

“We are investigating a complaint we received regarding the misuse of public funds,” said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley.

The search warrants were served starting in the morning and continued throughout the day, Robison said. She declined to say who received the warrants or give further details of the investigation.

The public integrity unit investigates public corruption, violations of open-meeting laws and other issues involving potential government malfeasance. In recent years, the unit has conducted corruption probes of several L.A. County cities, including Carson and South Gate, and is probing contracting practices along with federal investigators in the city of Los Angeles.

Vernon, which was founded in 1905 with the motto “Exclusively industrial,” has more than 1,200 businesses but only 90 full-time residents. It has been the subject of previous investigations, including an FBI probe in the 1980s and a previous District Attorney’s office investigation into allegations that ballots in a city election were illegally thrown out.

Attempts to reach city officials Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful; calls were answered with an after-hours recording.