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Hanging noose Halloween display a painful reminder of lynching in America, neighbor says

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Halloween decorations featuring a body hanging from a noose startled neighbors in a Marietta, Georgia, community. The display includes tombstones, witches and skeletons, in addition to what appears to be a man with a hood over his head, with hands and feet tied, swinging from a rope.

"I just feel like Halloween is not an excuse to use that kind of symbolism," said one neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous.

She said she noticed the display Monday while going for a walk on Caribou Place. She said she was horrified by the display, took a picture and shared it. She told WSB-TV that she wanted to start a conversation about why the display is a painful reminded of lynching in America.

"What's even scarier is people are going to ask, 'Well, did you go up and ask them?'" she said. "I felt scared to go to their front door because I don't know what kind of people live in that household."

WSB-TV's Carl Willis went to the home with the neighbor's concerns. A man who answered the door said it was his roommate who strung up the display. He took Willis' information, but no one responded.

Several neighbors said they didn't find a problem with the imagery. That troubled the concerned neighbor even more.

"This is 2017. We need to change it, and if that is your typical Halloween decoration, then it's absolutely not OK," she said. "It was not OK when we did it back in the day, and it's not OK now."

As it turns out, the people who simulated a man being hanged from a tree may have received that message. When Willis returned to the home to follow up, the display had been taken down.

"To be quite honest with you, it's very scary that people think that's acceptable," said the neighbor.