This mystery cloaked playground figure is making locals VERY uncomfortable

Police are reportedly investigating after locals complained about this spooky figure lurking near a playground in North Carolina, US.  The image of a cloaked man or woman dropping pieces of raw meat on the ground was taken by a concerned resident of a nearby apartment complex and immediately went viral, giving social media users everywhere a major case of the creeps. While the image became the butt of a few jokes on Twitter, many residents spoke of their genuine concerns to the local newspaper The Gaston Gazette.

Local Brooke Conrad said: 'I see why it could be easy to make a joke out of it, but this is serious. We live in a world today where you don't know what's going on and you don't know people.'

Kelsie Cooper added on Facebook: 'This is a serious thing that needs to be addressed.'

Police have said it is as yet unclear what the individual was doing near Gastonia's Hudson Woods apartments, but the investigation continues.

"We don't know if this is some bogus prank somebody is playing," a spokesperson for the police department told a Gazette reporter.