A mysterious cloaked person has baffled residents of Gastonia, North Carolina. Police are investigating allegations that the person left raw meat near a playground and “sparked fear among locals.”

People posted images of the person -- whose identity or gender is not known -- dressed in a black hooded cloak last Monday on social media, calling it “creepy.” The cloaked individual was spotted at the Hudson Woods Apartment complex.

“It is not clear what the person -- who has been deemed 'creepy' by social media users -- was doing outside the apartment building, nor why they were donning the floor-length, hooded attire. Their identity and gender are also unknown,” a Facebook user posted Sunday.

Gastonia Police Department spokeswoman Donna Lahser said that officers were investigating the matter, CBS affiliate WBTV reported Monday. "It could have come from anywhere," she said, adding: "We don't know if this is some bogus prank someone is playing."

Social media users also suggested that the cloaked person was performing a pagan ritual. A pagan follower might make offerings wearing a cloak and would not cause any harm, Heather Darnell, a pagan, told local newspaper Gaston Gazette last Monday. However, she added that followers of the polytheistic religion will not make the offerings in an apartment complex.

RELATED STORIES