The White House briefly went into lock down on Wednesday afternoon after an 'unattended package' was discovered in the park across the street.

The object inside the package turned out to be a coffee mug, the Secret Service said.

President Barack Obama was not on the premises when the lock down went into effect, at approximately 2:58 pm.

At the time, the president was on a pre-scheduled visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in upper Washington, to visit wounded armed service members.

The White House briefly went into lock down on Wednesday afternoon after an 'unattended package' was discovered in the park across the street

President Barack Obama was not on the premises when the lock down went into effect. At the time, the president was on a pre-scheduled visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in upper Washington, to visit wounded armed service members

Marine One is pictured here, taking the president to Walter Reed, before the package was discovered

The suspicious package was declared safe and the lock down ended at roughly 3:35 pm. At that time the affected area was re-opened.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the package was discovered in Lafayette Park.

The Secret Service subsequently closed public access to Lafayette Park and Pennsylvania Avenue as it and the Explosive Ordinance inspected the item.