BUFFALO NEWS 
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Police in the Canadian city of Edmonton appealed to the public to help them crack a crime spree involving the theft of several replica bison testicles.
Edmonton police charged two men on Tuesday after they were caught red-handed
with testicles removed from the life-size replica of a bison, one of several
colorfully painted statues placed throughout the Alberta city for the 2001
World Athletics Championships.
However, 19 other fiberglass bison had their testicles severed and the case remains unsolved, a police spokesman said.
The two men caught with the imitation genital glands have been charged with
one count each of mischief, but are not currently suspects in the vandalism
of the other bison.
The two suspects were collared in south Edmonton, after local
residents told officers of the vandalism. A few minutes later, the two men,
both in their early 20s, were found with the testicles, a fire extinguisher
and a cloth. The spokesman said he did not know the significance of the other
two items.
"It's a bizarre case,'' he said. "I mean, the whole scenario surrounding
all the other 19 bison -- why anyone would want to walk off with testicles
from a replica bison is beyond anyone's comprehension.''
Many of the statues, painted in colors representing various countries, were
to be sold following the two-week athletic championships, with the proceeds
going to charity.
Their value will drop considerably if they are rendered less than
anatomically correct.
Pamplona in Spain has it's annual Running with the Bulls festival, but in a town called Wainwright in the Canadian Province of Alberta, they have an annual Painting of the Balls.
It has become traditional for graduating students at Wainwright High School to paint the testicles of the town mascot, a statue of Ernie The Wonder Buffalo. Each year it's a different colour and the class of 2001 chose a basic clue for Ernie's undercarriage.
City officials will begin the annual follow up ceremony, the Cleaning of the Balls, later this week.