Stanford University officials say a noose was founding hanging from a tree outside of a campus residence hall.

Officials sent an email to students and staff saying authorities immediately “removed the noose and retained it as evidence,” after receiving a report Sunday evening that a noose was seen outside an undergraduate dormitory.

The university is investigating the incident as a hate crime.

A Stanford spokesman did not answer questions seeking more details on the incident, including whether campus video surveillance cameras captured the noose being placed in the tree.

It’s the third such incident in the last three years. In 2019, a noose was found hanging on a tree near a residence for summer students. In 2021, two loose ropes that resembled nooses were found hanging in a tree near a walking trail.

-Jeff Lemucchi