Noose Found Hanging From Tree Outside DC Museum

A noose was found hanging from a tree outside the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Washington, D.C., early Friday evening, according to authorities. A criminal investigation is underway.

The Washington Post reports that the museum had been closed for about an hour when a security guard discovered the noose and called the U.S. Park Police.

“The Smithsonian is committed to be a welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for all,” Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton wrote in an email to his staff. “I know you join me in deploring this act.”

The traditionally racist symbol is a world away from Yoko Ono’s “Wish Tree” exhibit, which was at the museum last summer. With that work, people wrote wishes that were hung from a tree’s branches before becoming part of Ono’s “Imagine Peace Tower” in Iceland.

Wishes or bodies? Wishes or bodies? I’ll go with ... wishes!

Read more at the Washington Post.