Police who set up hidden cameras to spot mountain lion instead capture bizarre footage of pranksters dressed up as monsters and animals

POLICE have been left baffled after motion-activated cameras put in place to take pictures of mountain lions snapped pranksters dressed as animals, monsters and even SANTA.

Police in Gardner, Kansas, USA, found the images on two hidden cameras in the city’s Celebration Park on Monday – which were set up following reports of mountain lions.

Among standard images, of skunks and coyotes, lurked photos of people wearing lion, gorilla and monster costumes – with one joker even pretending to be an old person with a walking frame, while another posed as Santa.

The pranksters have not come forward – but luckily local police saw the funny side, describing them as “comical” and “creative”.

The cameras were activated this month – but no mountain lions were detected.

Gardner Police Lt. Lee Krout told : “Immediately made me laugh.

“I immediately called a couple of other people in the room and said, ‘Hey you gotta see this.'”

Meanwhile, writing on Facebook, the Gardner Police Department added: “We would like to sincerely thank the persons responsible as it made our day when we pulled up what we expected to be hundreds of pictures of coyotes, foxes and raccoons.

“Thank you to the citizens who noticed the cameras. Your effort and sense of humour are greatly appreciated.”