New York police are searching for the individuals responsible for displaying a banner of Vladimir Putin on the Manhattan Bridge on Thursday. The banner is an image of Putin, standing in front of the Russian flag with the word ‘Peacemaker’ in large capital letters across the bottom.

Witnesses told police that it took at least two people to hang the banner from the bridge around 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. The officers that responded to the call about the banner were able to remove it by around 3 p.m. the same day.

“We realized it was Putin and it was the Russian flag and it said ‘peacemaker’ and then after that we were all confused about what this is supposed to be saying or expressing – it’s not very clear,” Quinn Formel, 27, who works in an office nearby, told New York Post.

During the two hours that the 20-by-30-foot banner was hanging from the bridge, several users took to social media to share photos of the bizarre occurrence.

https://twitter.com/maytham956/status/784119753552064512

This is not the first time that a mysterious banner has appeared in New York City. In 2014, a massive Palestinian flag was also hung from the Manhattan bridge. Solidarity groups were reportedly responsible for displaying the flag during a protest march across the Brooklyn Bridge.

“There are no details on why or who – it has to be investigated,” a police spokesman said about the incident. Police are currently looking for any information about who hung the banner through video surveillance in the area.

Russia recently suspended a Cold-War agreement with the United States on the disposal of plutonium from decommissioned nuclear warheads. The suspension decree still requires approval from Russian parliament. Today just also happens to be Putin’s 64th birthday.

Featured Image via Twitter/Katyetc