JEFFERSON TWP — Was it an act of vandalism? A tasteless prank? Was it meant to send a message?

State police can’t say why someone on Wednesday draped a deer carcass over a mailbox at a home in Jefferson Township.

Robert Foertsch’s step son was first to come upon the strange delivery about 7:45 a.m. at the mailbox at the end of the family’s driveway on West Jefferson Road.

“The deer was skinned and the head was draped over the mailbox,” said Trooper Jason Frances. “There was no damage to the mailbox; just blood on it.”

It appeared the animal had been recently killed.

Frances did not see the evidence because by the time he got there, Foertsch had already disposed of the carcass. However, the homeowner took photographs of the odd sight that the trooper reviewed as part of his investigation.

Foertsch, who works for the Jefferson Township road department, unknowingly drove past the draped deer remains when he left for work before dawn.

His stepson later noticed it when he, too, headed for work, and alerted his mother. Foertsch soon got a call from his wife.

He returned home and got his first look.

“It was a deer hide with the head attached and the antlers removed,” Foertsch said this morning. His first thought? “Why would someone do it?”

This was the first time that Frances and his fellow troopers encountered or even heard of a stranger slinging a deer carcass over someone’s mailbox.

Police said they have no suspects or leads, and they don’t know the culprit’s motive. But Frances believes Foertsch’s mailbox was not chosen by random.

“It’s likely that whoever did this knew he used to work for the (Pennsylvania) Game Commission,” Frances said.

Foertsch, who served briefly as a wildlife conservation officer, did not dismiss that theory.

“It’s a possibility,” he said.

He later contacted game commission officials to tell them of the incident.

“They said there’s nothing they can do about it,” Foertsch said.

A telephone call to Regis Senko, the game commission’s information and education supervisor for the northwest region, was not immediately returned this morning

Frances admitted that pending any new information, the case would be closed. He noted that if ever identified, the suspect could be charged with criminal mischief or disorderly conduct.