Dead goat hung outside Cubs' stadium

CHICAGO, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Pranksters apparently hoping to remove a curse from the Chicago Cubs hung a dead goat from the Harry Caray statue outside Wrigley Field.

Police removed the skinned carcass from the statue's hand Wednesday, but not before it was captured on video and viewed by thousands of people on YouTube, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.

The 14-second YouTube clip shows a sign around the statue's neck that says, "Go Cubs Go."

The carcass, which appeared to be from a butcher shop, may have failed to break the infamous Billy Goat curse with the Cubs 0-2 in the playoffs Saturday and on the edge of playoff elimination, the Sun-Times reported.

Previous pranksters have placed beer cans in the hand of the statue of Caray, a Hall of Fame sports broadcaster, but never a goat, said a friend of Caray's.

"He wouldn't have been happy at all," the friend said. "It's one thing to put a Budweiser can in his hands. Harry would have loved that. He needs to be cleansed now."

Chicago lore says the curse was put on the team at Game 4 of the 1945 World Series when a goat taken to a game by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis was ejected from Wrigley Field.