Ogle County Sherriff's have taken down an orange noose hanging from a tree at the intersection of Highway 72 and 251 but according to Byron native Tom Ashelford, the noose had been at that location near Monroe Center for over 24 hours.

Ashelford called the 23 newsroom and we immediately called ogle county Sherriff's department who were not aware of the noose until we called them.

It's unclear whether the noose is a sign of hate or just a very bad Halloween prank, the answer may lie in a symbol that was nailed to a neighboring tree. Ogle police are still trying to determine the significance of the symbol.

Our research came up with no direct matches to any hate crimes, we have sent a picture of the symbol to the anti defamation for observation but no matter what the intent was to hang the noose, the impression on those who saw it is lasting.

If you have any information on who hung the noose or have an idea on the meaning of the symbol please call the Ogle County Sheriff's Department.