A Madison family?s way of getting into the Halloween spirit has left another family seething.

The Maines family has been hanging a fake body from its chimney for the past seven years as a Halloween decoration. The family says it never had an issue with its decorations. But this year, Mille Hazlewood, who lives a few blocks away, asked the Maines to take it down after she found it offensive.

?Well, noose, as we know, just implies lynching, but then they took it to the next extreme of having a figure, and so it represented a lynching,? Hazlewood said.

The Maines removed the decoration at the Rosedale Avenue home. They also removed all of the Halloween decorations and put up a sign that they would no longer celebrate Halloween or Christmas.

?We put up the sign because my son refuses to put up any Halloween [decorations] now,? Cheryl Maines said. ?Christmas? Somebody?s going to pick on the baby Jesus. I?m afraid somebody is going to come by and say, ?I?m offended that they have a nativity outside.??

Hazlewood says with the recent incidents involving nooses, she felt the decoration was inappropriate. Maines feels those who don?t like the decorations should focus more on retailers that sell the items instead of the homeowners.

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