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Swampscott Cops Taking Looped Rope Around Tree Branch Very Seriously

March 22, 2021

Some say it’s a foot swing. Some worry it may be a noose.

Police in the North Shore town of Swampscott are taking no chances.

They announced on Monday, March 22 they “are investigating the origins of a length of rope that was found this morning tied to a branch of a tree in Linscott Park.”

The park is about two doors down from the home of Charlie Baker, the governor of Massachusetts

The account in The Salem News sounds skeptical:

It was tied with a loop on the bottom, “giving it a noose-like appearance,” according to police.

However, the rope lacked the slip knot and the multiple windings of a traditional noose, it was too close to the ground for a noose, and it looked more like what a child might step into to use as a foot swing.

Commenters on the Facebook page of the town’s police department also sound skeptical:

Photo courtesy of Swampscott Police Department Facebook page