A headless pigeon's body was found near the main gate of a municipal junior high school in Kobe this week, police said.

The grisly discovery was made at around 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Sankei Shimbun reported. A teacher contacted police.

According to police, the pigeon's body was placed on the ground about one meter from the main gate of the school in Kita Ward. Its head has not been found and looked to have been severed from the body by a sharp blade. The body had not started to decompose and there was no blood nearby.

Police believe the bird was decapitated during the night elsewhere and left at the school gate early in the morning.