STERLING, Mass. - An investigation is still underway after a severed beaver tail was found in Sterling this week.  

Animal control officer Kelly Jones said a tail was nailed to a sign at Stuart Pond reading, "Beaver, no gnawing." While the sign has been there for a while, Jones said using dash camera footage, they learned the tail was added April 20 or 21.

Now, working with Massachusetts Environmental Police, they are trying to track down who did this. They don't know how the person obtained the beaver or how it was killed, but whoever did it could be facing felony charges. 

Jones said there's no new beaver damage at the site of the sign and she never expect something like this to happen in town. 

"We don't see any beaver damage aside from that particular tree, the damage is relatively old," Jones said. "We haven't gotten reports or complaints about beavers in the area with the tree damage or with flooding from dams, so I don't know where it came from. There's a beaver trapping season which has already ended, and from what we can tell this beaver was killed after that period and you do need to have a license to trap when you do."

Jones said if someone is having trouble with beavers, they should reach out to Mass Wildlife. Anyone who has any information about who might have done this is asked to call the Sterling Police Department.