2nd Noose This School Year Discovered at Weatherford ISD Campus

A drawstring tied like a noose was found in a restroom at a middle school in Weatherford Tuesday morning, district officials say.

Weatherford ISD said the cotton drawstring was located hanging from a second floor restroom stall at Tison Middle School, just north of State Highway 180.

In a statement, the district said in part, "This offensive symbol does not represent what we expect of our students in Weatherford ISD and we will not tolerate this behavior."

After a quick investigation, district leaders said they found the students involved and said they would be disciplined.

Nick Pugh, the father of the student who found the noose, told NBC 5 that whatever the intended symbolism, a noose is inherently threatening and needs to be taken seriously.

"Maybe hit the pause button to stop and to say, 'OK, we may have some kind of cultural problem that's occurring within our system, what can we do to address this? How do we confront this concern?'" Pugh said.

This is the second incident this school year involving a noose at a Weatherford ISD campus. In January, the district made parents aware of a Facebook post that included an image of a noose -- this time tied out of rope -- hanging from a Weatherford High School railing. The district said that incident happened in early December.