Apr 01, 2015 11:25 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Duke University campus awoke Wednesday to pictures of a noose hanging from a tree at the school's Bryan Center Plaza.

According to the Duke Chronicle, the noose appeared about a week after a few white male students drunkenly sang a racist chant to a black female student. Both incidents spread throughout the campus on social media before making their way to local and national news outlets.

Two university police officers removed the noose around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday while declining to comment at the time, but students had already taken photos of it and posted them online.

Larry Moneta, Duke's vice president for student affairs, emailed the student body Wednesday expressing "disgust and anger" toward the incident while also announcing the school had begun its investigation.

"To whomever committed this hateful and stupid act, I just want to say that if your intent was to create fear, it will have the opposite effect," he said. "Today, fear will be among the reactions students, and especially, students of color, will have. Be assured that the Duke community will provide all the support necessary to help us all get through this. In time, each of these cowardly acts of bias and hatred will strengthen our resolve to love and support each other."

Created in the wake of last week's racist chant incident, an anonymous group at Duke called the "Duke PoC (people of color) Caucus" shared a photo of the noose with a brief message. The post has generated more than 700 re-blogs and responses as of late Wednesday morning.

"To all black students, staff, faculty, and/or Durhamites on campus and in the area: Please take care of yourselves and each other," read the statement. "This campus is not a safe space, and has proven beyond any doubt that it is a hostile environment for any and all black people."

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