A large, burning cross was discovered in Grant Park, Chicago, on Tuesday afternoon, and police said they are investigating how it ended up there and the motive behind it.

Video taken by a motorist shows the wooden cross engulfed in bright orange flames as it leans against a tree in the park. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed the flaming object was a cross, and said officials put out the fire.

Investigation Underway

Chicago police said there were no reports of injuries and that they are investigating the motive and circumstances around the “object on fire.” Keinika Carlton, 43, was driving home from running errands with her daughter and mother-in-law when they saw the cross on fire.

Carlton estimated the cross was at least 6 feet tall. The experience was new to all of them, including Carlton’s mother-in-law, who grew up in Kentucky. Carlton said as they slowed down to shoot a video of the flames, she saw around her other cars slowing down and people walking nearby, staring at the cross burning.

While the motive behind the burning cross was not immediately clear, cross burnings in the U.S. have historically been seen as “symbols of hate” that are “inextricably intertwined with the history of the Ku Klux Klan,” according to a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision written by the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.