Noose Found at African American History Museum in D.C.

A noose, a symbol of racial lynching, was found on Wednesday on the floor of an exhibit about segregation at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution officials said.

A gallery at the museum on the National Mall was partially closed for about three hours, and U.S. Park Police were called in to investigate what was described by the museum's director as a "horrible act."

"The noose has long represented a deplorable act of cowardice and depravity — a symbol of extreme violence for African Americans," Director Lonnie Bunch said in an email to museum staff sent to Reuters by a museum spokeswoman.