Vandalism to professor's bike blamed on 'meanest squirrel'

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- An Iowa college professor said the culprit behind repeated acts of vandalism against his bicycle turned out to be "the meanest squirrel you've ever seen."

Matt Strom, a math professor at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, said he initially thought a human was to blame for the damage done Wednesday and Thursday to parts of his bicycle, including the seat, tires, headlight and taillight, the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reported Monday.

"There was no damage done to any metal," Strom said. "It was all soft materials like plastic and rubber."

However, only a short time after Strom reported the damage to the police Thursday, aviation instructor Ron Duer snapped a picture of a squirrel chewing on the tire of Strom's bike.

Strom wrote an email to colleagues describing the offender as "the meanest squirrel you've ever seen."

Sioux City Animal Control owner Cindy Rarrat said it was the first she had heard of a bicycle-eating squirrel.

"I have never seen anything like that before, but I have seen where squirrels have done a tremendous amount of damage to houses," she said.