On Wednesday tourists who were visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture found a noose in one of the exhibitions, the second similar incident in a week, just four days ago a noose was found hanging from a tree at the Hirshhorn Museum.

The noose was found in an exhibition on segregation, police were called and they removed the noose.

Lonnie Bunch, the director of the museum, in an e-mail to staff members:

“The noose has long represented a deplorable act of cowardice and depravity—a symbol of extreme violence for African Americans. Today’s incident is a painful reminder of the challenges that African Americans continue to face,”

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution David Skorton wrote an Institution-wide email saying:

“The Smithsonian family stands together in condemning this act of hatred and intolerance, especially repugnant in a museum that affirms and celebrates the American values of inclusion and diversity,”

“We will not be intimidated. Cowardly acts like these will not, for one moment, prevent us from the vital work we do.”