A misplaced pencil was to blame for longer waits on the New York subway system Christmas Eve, the MTA says.

The authority tweeted the alert to its customers just after 12 p.m. Tuesday, saying the pencil had "prevented a train's doors from closing."

Expect longer waits for southbound N, R and W trains after we removed a pencil that prevented a train's doors from closing at 34 St-Herald Sq. — NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) December 24, 2019

Incredulous New Yorkers reacted to the news on Twitter, with one Jean Metauten asking the authority if it was joking. The MTA replied humorlessly.

" No, Jean. Objects such as pencils can prevent doors from completely closing. ^JP "

Others noted that, while they had heard many strange reasons for trains being delayed, they had never heard this one. "I have never seen trains being delayed because of a whole pencil," @RichKrabs tweeted.

The MTA replied that the pencil had somehow "interfered with the door's safety mechanism."