**The US Secret Service says it is investigating after an effigy of Barack Obama was found hanging in the home town of former President Jimmy Carter.**TV footage showed the doll hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that reads “Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President”.
Witnesses said the effigy had President Obama’s name on it.
Plains Mayor L.E. Godwin III said the fire department had been called to take it down.
In Washington, US Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed that the agency was investigating the case.
One Plains resident said the Secret Service had already interviewed local people.
“We wish it hadn’t happened. It’s not the kind of publicity the town of Plains likes,” Jan Williams, who runs a hotel, was quoted as saying by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
She described Plains, which has a population of fewer than 700 people, as a “nice, quiet town”.