SAN ANTONIO -- A noose that hung in a cubicle of a CPS Energy manager's office has been removed, utility officials said Monday.

CPS Energy officials said the noose, which had been hanging for 10 years, was taken down following recent media reports that showed a picture of the noose in the cubicle.

Paula Gold-Williams, a vice president for the municipally-owned natural gas and electric company, said that the employee received the noose as a gift 10 years ago.

"Within the context of when he got it, it was very benign," Gold-Williams said. "Everybody understood it. But, again, when you're in an environment where everything is changing, people may wonder why it's up there."

But David Van Os, an attorney representing various civil and human rights groups which protested outside CPS Energy offices on Monday, said that the noose represents a culture of repression and vindictiveness toward employees of the utility company.

"I cannot believe CPS would come out and tell you such a fact," Van Os said. "That just tells me that for 10 years, they have tolerated this."

Van Os also said that the noose was near separated versions of the Old Testament and the New Testament, which the protesters said was a Ku Klux Klan reference.

But Gold-Williams said that the Old Testament was actually an old dictionary.

Gold-Williams, who wouldn't comment on the job status of the manager, said that the picture was released to the media by a union representative from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who was denied access to an employee-only meeting with management.