Mystery of Christmas lights at abandoned New Orleans hospital solved

NEW ORLEANS -- Several social media posts popped up over the holiday appearing to show a Christmas tree lighting up a single window inside of an abandoned hospital.

According to WGNO, Charity Hospital has sat empty in New Orleans for a decade. It never reopened after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.



But on Sunday, several Tulane Medical Center employees noticed the bright light shining through a window near the top of the building.

“I wish the pictures did it justice. I don’t know how it’s lit. I don’t know how it’s even in there, but it made me smile just a little bit tonight!” Lisa Walley Staggs wrote on her Facebook page where she posted two photos of mysterious light.

Mystery solved (sort of)

Officials with the  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have since put an end to the speculation. Lesli Capo said, “University Police investigated and removed what turned out to be two-by-fours wrapped with lights.”

The New Orleans Advocate reports the incident is being treated as a break-in.

An Instagram user posted a photo of what it looked like from inside the hospital with the following caption: "someone seems to have snuck in and put lights on some 2x4's. A photo of the outside of (probably) this room is going viral and people think these lights are a ghost Christmas tree. The only thing scary about this is how much the City of NOLA spends to keep the power on."

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