A student at the University of Kentucky and a former student at Bluegrass Community and Technical College have been arrested in connection with the hanging of a life-size effigy of Barack Obama in a tree on the university campus, CNN reports.

Authorities found the effigy outside the university’s Mines and Minerals Building on Wednesday morning. Police told CNN they arrested Joe Fischer, 22, a senior at the university, and Hunter Bush, 21, a former student at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

They were charged with disorderly conduct, burglary, and theft, the police said. The burglary and theft charges involve allegedly removing items from a room in a fraternity house.

“This was a serious incident,” Joe Monroe, acting police chief at the University of Kentucky, was quoted as saying by CNN. “It caused a lot of wounds to be opened from racial tension.”