CULLOWHEE, N.C. (AP) ó Police said writing found on duct tape was one of the leads they were following Tuesday in the case of a dead juvenile bear that was shot and left draped with Barack Obama campaign posters at the entrance to Western Carolina University.
University spokesman Bill Studenc said that campus police notified the U.S. Secret Service about the gruesome find Monday as a precaution. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Studenc said investigators found writing on duct tape attached to the posters that were taped to the 75-pound bear cub. The writing asked that no one steal the posters, which investigator said made it appear that the posters were stolen, Studenc said.
University police chief Tom Johnson said it appeared that the bear, which was found by maintenance workers, had been shot in the head.
“It looked like it had been shot in the head as best we can tell. A couple of Obama campaign signs had been stapled together and stuck over its head,” Johnson said.
A local businessman has offered a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest. Linn Beachem of Arden said he wasn’t motivated by the political implications of the act but by the dumping of the bear.
“It is just a despicable act,” Beachem told the Citizen-Times of Asheville.
N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission officials were called to remove the body and help in the investigation, Johnson said.
Bear season is open and a state hunting regulations say it is illegal to kill a bear that weighs less than 50 pounds
“But this is certainly unacceptable,” Johnson said. “Someone evidently was wanting to draw attention to the election. If we find out who they are, we’ll make sure they’ll get some attention themselves.”
Obama campaign spokesman Paul Cox declined comment.
Word traveled fast across the campus, outraging some students and faculty at the state school.
“I just can’t believe people would go to such an extent to state their political beliefs,” said junior Bethany Rowe.
Political science professor Chris Cooper said the dead bear “sends a pretty disturbing message. Obviously it sounds like it may have some racial implications and at the very least its somebody sending the wrong message and taking this hot political season the wrong way.”