Mike Elliott, 28, said the sight was especially shocking because he and roommate Gary Harvey live half a mile from the sea and it's an uphill climb to their home, The Sun reported Friday.

"I know dolphins are supposed to be clever, but there's no way it got there by itself and died," Elliott said. "I don't know if it's someone's idea of a joke or what, but it's obviously been dumped in our front garden."

He said the dolphin corpse had what appeared to be two puncture marks on its stomach, indicating it may have been harpooned.

The dolphin was removed by local authorities after police were alerted a crime may have been committed.

A spokesman for the town council said authorities have not determined how the dolphin ended up in the home's garden, but police have yet to find any evidence of a crime.

"It would have needed a hell of a tidal wave to reach that property and we didn't have one of those," the spokesman said. "Maybe at the end of the day it was a prank."