An incident in which a suspicious item was found near a mosque in Walsall is being treated as a hate crime, police have said.
Almost 40 homes near the scene were evacuated after bomb disposal experts were called. West Midlands police said the discovery was reported on Saturday night and about 150 people were told to leave their homes as a "precautionary and temporary" measure.
The item had been found on Friday and taken inside the mosque in Rutter Street by a well-meaning member of the public, a police spokesman added.
Supt Keith Fraser, the head of crime and operations for Walsall police, said the incident was being treated as a hate crime but the motive for placing the item near a mosque remained unclear. He added: "The force are taking this extremely seriously.
"We have launched a full investigation into the suspicious item that has been found, and what's going to be the key to this is the public's help in relation to helping us to understand why that suspicious item was in the area."
He added: "Officers are continuing to work hard to establish what the item is and how it got there but the incident is being treated as a hate crime, although the motive for placing the item near to the mosque remains unclear."
Fraser, who confirmed that the item was now safe and was being examined by experts, also appealed for the media not to speculate about what had been found.
He said: "There are going to be a number of hypotheses around this suspicious item, what I would ask is that we work with what we know at the moment. The investigation is at a very, very early stage.
"Hypotheses which raise people's concern about what may or may not have happened would not be helpful at this stage. I would ask that we keep things in perspective."
Police said officers have increased patrols in the area and around all places of worship, although the incident is believed to be isolated.
Ali Mahmood, the chairman of the local traders' association, said residents had been given no details of the nature of the suspicious item. "It's a very big shock for the community," he said. "To see the road cordoned off like this is shocking."