The homeowner, who declined to appear on camera, said he bought a corpse decoration kit to create a spooky graveyard scene, with tombstones beneath the figures. He said he did not intend to offend anyone and believes the display does not violate any laws.

Bucks County NAACP President Adrienne King said the organization had received complaints and was asking the homeowner to reconsider. “For Black Americans, that image of people hanging from trees and that terror it caused through the Black community is something we connect with,” King said.

Resident Roshea Newkirk said the scene felt deeply offensive. She said the homeowner should remove the figures or make them clearly identifiable as Halloween props if he did not mean to evoke that history.

The homeowner said the borough manager and a Borough Council member had asked him to take down the decorations, but he declined. King said she hoped the impact on neighbors would be reason enough for him to make a voluntary change and said she wanted to speak with him about why people were hurt by the display.

Other residents defended the homeowner’s choice. Mike Wade said he initially found the scene unusual but ultimately viewed it as a Halloween decoration, adding that the homeowner was entitled to decide what to display.

The dispute highlights the tension between a homeowner’s freedom to decorate private property and the effect public-facing imagery can have on neighbors, particularly when it echoes painful history. Borough leaders had not responded to a request for comment.