NATCHEZ —Barney Schoby thought he found an egg. What the Natchez National Historical Park ranger discovered was a mystery.

When The Dart landed on the grounds of the antebellum house Melrose Sunday, Schoby had just spotted the white object sitting on top of one of the house’s gates.

“I thought it was a pigeon egg,” he said.

What Schoby first thought was an egg laid by one of the property’s pesky birds, the ranger soon discovered was a rock — an egg shaped stone painted white and decorated with hand-painted flowers and the words, “Be Kind.”

Similar to the rocks hidden by Natchez residents in recent weeks, the rock Schoby found had a note painted on the bottom.

Schoby soon discovered the rock was not from Natchez but another community several hundred miles away from Mississippi.

As part of a nationwide grassroots craze, decorated rocks have been hidden in communities across the nation.

Schoby was intent to find out the history of the rock and how it ended up on the gate to the Melrose offices.

“I am trying to find out where this came from,” Schoby said. “The person who left it here must have been on the one-o’clock or two-o’clock tour.”

A quick search on the Facebook page marked on the rock, #cprocks, shows that the stone originated from Central Pasco, Fla., a community north of Tampa.

Knowing where the rock came from left Schoby wanting to know more.

“Alright, rock. Talk to me,” he said.

As visitors filed into the Melrose visitor’s center Sunday, Schoby showed off the rock to those who were curious. The rock sat on top of the counter at the eye-level for many children to see.

When he had the opportunity to take a break, Schoby went back to researching the history of the rock.

“It looks like it might have been in North Carolina and Texas before it came here,” he said. “It left Texas on the 24th (of August).”

Schoby said he was going to do some more digging into the history of the rock at home.

The ranger said he plans to eventually give the rock to a child to hide again for someone else to discover.

“I will tell (the child) to hide the rock off of the property,” Schoby said. “Let him start the journey again.”