Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

The U.S. Secret Service has placed an agent on leave after an African-American employee reported finding a noose hanging at the service's main training facility outside the nation's capital.

The service has acknowledged "an allegation of misconduct" at its J.J. Rowley Training Center in Beltsville, Md., and that it placed the employee on administrative leave last week, pending the outcome of an investigation. The employee is a veteran agent with the Secret Service, according to fellow agents.

The noose was found by an African-American officer in the uniform division of the service during the week of April 14, according to those familiar with the alleged incident. That division protects the White House and surrounding grounds.