HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Detectives for a West Tennessee sheriff’s office hope to find the person or persons responsible for illegally dumping cow heads.

Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett, Jr. said his deputies got a call about a “large number of cow heads” found in a dumpster on Highway 54 on Saturday, Feb. 18.

Deputies who responded to the call said they talked to neighbors who heard “dumping noises” coming from the Solid Waste dumpster around two o’clock that morning.

Sheriff Garett said 8 cow heads were found with tags still in their ears and tongues cut out. The possible Charolaise mix animals appeared to have been “severed with a chainsaw,” he said.

Now detectives are hoping anyone who has information about the illegal dumping of animal parts or has experienced any cattle theft to call the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office at 731-772-6158.