Police closed roads around D.C. Superior Court just blocks from the Capitol Wednesday morning after an unattended backpack was found tied to a pole outside the building.

The block of streets at Indiana Avenue NW and 500 D Street NW were closed down as the Metropolitan Police Department investigated the incident, according to the department’s traffic account posted on social media.

The red backpack was at the scene for at least a couple of hours, with courthouse security noticing it and calling the police at about 6 a.m., according to local CBS affiliate WUSA-TV.

The police bomb squad declared the scene all-clear about two hours later.

The roads around the courthouse were cleared and returned to normal traffic patterns shortly thereafter, police said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.