State wildlife officials in northern California are Benjamin Caldwelllooking for the person responsible for cutting all four paws off a bear and stealing them after the animal was fatally struck by a vehicle over the weekend.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division (CDFW) confirmed to multiple outlets it was investigating the case after the bear was found dead Saturday near Foresthill.

The small town is in Placer County, about halfway between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe.

Captain Patrick Foy, with CDFW's law enforcement division, reported someone dialed 911 to report they struck a black bear along a road. Foy said a Placer County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to the scene and found the animal "mortally wounded."

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'The paws had been cut off'

The dead bear was left at the scene, Foy said,

"It was a decent sized bear so they couldn’t move it from the roadway," Foy said." Sometime between then and the next morning when someone was planning to remove the bear, someone cut the paws off."

"The bone was clean cut," Jordyn Pari Davies, who reportedly found the animal butchered early Sunday, told KCRA-TV. "The flesh was still fresh. It was red... We got in that car very, very angry for the rest of the day just thinking about who did it."

Foy told the outlet agencies with the jurisdiction over the roads and highways where dead animals are located are responsible for removing them from the road or moving them off the side of the road to "let nature do what nature does."

USA TODAY has reached out to the sheriff's office.

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Suspect faces up to a year in jail, $1K fine

In California, possessing wildlife or parts of wildlife is a misdemeanor crime of the Fish and Game Code, Foy said. Under state law, anyone convicted of the crime faces up to a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.

Anyone with information about the case or who witnesses a poaching incident is asked to contact state's wildlife officials. 

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @