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Harvard Library Urine Spill An Accident

CAMBRIDGE (AP) - A Harvard University dean says damage to three dozen books on gay and lesbian issues that appeared to have been doused in urine in a campus library was simply an accident.

Campus police were investigating the incident that occurred Nov. 24 and reported Friday as a hate crime.

Dean Evelynn Hammonds told The Crimson student newspaper Monday that an investigation determined that a library worker found a bottle of what appeared to be urine on a shelf in the Lamont Library and accidentally spilled it.

It remains unclear what a bottle of urine was doing in a library.

The 36 books worth several thousand dollars will be replaced.

Harvard College Queer Students and Allies co-chairman Marco Chan expressed relief that the damage was not an act of homophobia.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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