It was a scene from the Coos County chain saw massacre.

Coos County Sheriff’s deputies found two people cutting up Charleston’s “Charlie the Tuna,” in the Daniel’s Creek area Friday.

The Monterey cyprus sculpture was reported stolen Tuesday by Mel Campbell, a member of the Charleston Merchants Association. For years, it stood on the east side of the South Slough Bridge heading into Charleston.

Then an Oregon International Port of Coos Bay security worker noticed it was missing on May 24. But he didn’t tell anyone. He thought it had been removed for repairs.

Deputies gathered the pieces of Charlie on Friday afternoon and put them into the back of a sheriff’s pickup truck. The remains were taken to the Charleston Rural Fire Protection District station on Cape Arago Highway.

Once there, Capt. Rusty Shield, of the department, called Campbell to come over to take a look. While she was glad that Charlie had been found, she was disappointed that he had been massacred.

Charlie will no longer welcome visitors to the fishing community.

Shield said he believed Charlie was created in 1986, but said in the last couple days they found paperwork showing it was created in 1968. The chain saw didn’t do all the damage. Most of the inside wood has rotted away or been eaten by insects.

There also are several patches of foam repairs that had been made in the past.

Campbell had put many coats of paint on Charlie.

Shield and Campbell said they are planning a memorial ceremony for the beloved statue. They plan to burn the carving and bury the ashes at the Charleston Visitor Center. They’ll mark it with a small headstone.

Those plans still are being worked out.

What has been worked out, so far, is chain saw carver Ellen Keeland of Loon Lake will carve a new Charlie the Tuna out of a cedar log next weekend at the Chainsaw Carving Contest in Reedsport.

Then a blue tuna will once again greet visitors at the east end of the Charleston bridge.

No other information was available about the arrest of the suspects at press time.