Maryland

Disturbing Halloween decoration upsets neighbors in Maryland town

Some kids in the Bowie, Maryland, neighborhood said they find the decoration cool. Some parents, on the other hand, do not

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Some residents in a Bowie, Maryland, neighborhood think that one neighbor's Halloween decorations went too far and want the disturbing display taken down.

Video shows what looks like a body wrapped up in a black garbage bag dangling upside-down from a tree. The imagery of the decoration reminds some of a lynching.

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One resident said that although she's not against Halloween, she doesn't find it appropriate.

"I was definitely frightened by it," the resident said. "It was definitely eye-catching [and] not something that you would typically see for a Halloween decoration."

The homeowner who put up the display told NBC Washington it was just a decoration. He bought it online on Amazon.

Juan Estrada, a resident, said he understands going all out for Halloween. When his kids were younger, he used to decorate all the time – from displaying a fake severed head to creating a crime scene with his car.

"I put an effigy down underneath, put some yellow tape around it and created a crime scene," Estrada said.

Despite being a proponent of Halloween decorations, he said he understands the connotations of a hanging body set up in a neighborhood. Still, he's not taking the decoration too seriously.

"Life is too short to worry about, you know, petty stuff," Estrada said.

A spokesperson from the Bowie Police Department told NBC Washington that there are no ordinances applying to this kind of display and that it's on private property in Bowie.

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