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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A reverend says a black doll found hanging from a makeshift noose in a Philadelphia playground was apparently staged by a group of kids who wanted to “creep people out.”

Police say they received a 911 call around noon after a city worker found a black doll hanging from a telephone wire with a makeshift noose around its neck at the Weccacoe Playground at 4th and Queen Streets.

“It’s very sickening and a vile thing to discover,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.

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Firefighters removed the doll around 2:30 p.m., but not before Rev. Mark Tyler saw it and posted it to social media.

“Sadly, I’m not surprised,” said Tyler.

Tyler says the playground is the original burial ground for Mother Bethel AME Church.

“For a person of color in the country, I would say there’s really no place I would go and say, ‘Oh, in this place, I know I’m safe.’ It’s just not been my history.”

But in an updated Facebook live on Thursday night, Tyler said boys who live in the neighborhood confessed to the act.

“Some young children came forward and confessed that they actually did it. Believe it or not, these children were under the age of 13. They were black and they were white and they live here in the neighborhood,” said Tyler.

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Tyler said the boys found the doll and the noose in the playground and wanted to “creep people out.”