The person or people who climbed a 1,200-foot television tower to hang a dummy from the top may have exposed themselves to harmful radiation, Milwaukee police and the owner of the company that services the tower said Saturday.

"This person may be getting very sick," she said.

Mark Higgins of Higgins Tower Service Inc., which was called to bring down the mannequin, said radiation exposure would occur at the top of the tower, where the transmitters are.

An early indication of radiation poisoning, he said, would be reddened skin, similar to a sunburn.

"It would depend on the amount of time in the field," he said.

The transmitters are turned off when his crew works on them, Higgins said, and it doesn't interrupt television service because the signals bounce to a backup antenna.

Milwaukee police and firefighters, including the Fire Department's heavy rescue team, were called to the WDJT-TV (Channel 58) tower in the 5300 block of N. Green Bay Ave. around 9:30 a.m. on a report of a body hanging from the top. Two workers from Higgins Tower Service were called to scale the tower and bring it down.

According to police, the body turned out to be a mannequin, but it is unclear when it was placed there. Schwartz said there were no footprints in the snow at the base, indicating it may have been put up before the Dec. 1 snowfall.

Throughout the day, spectators gathered to watch - some with binoculars - as the crew slowly scaled and then descended the tower with the mannequin, which was dressed in a red shirt and dark pants.

Several voiced anger when they realized it was a prank.

"That's the cruelest thing in the world," said Sheneala Gibbs, who ran over from her home nearby because she feared someone was going to jump and thought "maybe we could pray him down."

Tom Reep of Milwaukee, who called police after seeing what appeared to be a body flapping in the wind at the top of the tower, called it a waste of taxpayers' money and police and fire resources.

"And the sad part is they put two other lives at risk to bring it down," he said.