For the second time in two weeks, a noose was founding hanging in Center City, a neighborhood in downtown Philadelphia.
It was found hanging from a tree Friday morning outside of the former Graduate Hospital complex in Southwest Center City.
The noose was placed on the limb of a tree located at 18th Street and Lombard Street. Police don't believe it was directed at a specific individual.
Surveillance cameras captured a white man throwing the rope into the tree, investigators said Friday evening. The man then began walking west on Lombard with a black man. The two appear to be talking as they walked. Detectives are now trying to identify the men to pursue them for questioning.
Philadelphia’s Southwest Detectives Division took down the noose late Friday morning.
Mayor Jim Kenney and Rue Landau, executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, issued a joint statement condemning the act.
"These symbols of hate and racially-motivated violence have no place in Philadelphia - our residents and visitors should not have to witness such abhorrent incidents in public or private settings," they said in the statement.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Philadelphia Police Department at (215) 686-3388.
