The Fall's Smith says he slit a squirrel

LONDON, April 9 (UPI) -- Britain's humane society says it's investigating The Fall's frontman Mark E. Smith for allegedly lopping off a squirrel's head with a hedge trimmer.

The punk rocker reportedly bragged to a music magazine he "killed a couple" of endangered squirrels recently, The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

If the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' investigation confirms Smith's claim of a backyard beheading, the 51-year-old musician could be prosecuted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

The singer said he would "happily set about an endangered red squirrel with a set of professional hedge clippers," the British newspaper reported.

"Squirrels mean nothing to me. I killed a couple last weekend actually," Smith allegedly said during the magazine interview.

"The comments made by Mark E. Smith are extremely irresponsible and he has basically admitted to committing an offense under the Wildlife and Countryside Act by killing two red squirrels," said RSPCA spokeswoman Klare Kennett.

Red squirrels are "highly protected," Kennett said, and a person convicted of killing, harming or taking red squirrels from the wild could be sentenced up to six months in prison and a fined up to $40,000.