When word broke of sharpened metal spikes being found in Green Lake, a Seattle Parks Department spokeswoman speculated someone maliciously put them there to “hurt people.” A Seattle Times editorial called the perpetrator a “sick puppy.” Now the mystery is solved. And the sick puppy responsible for placing them there? The Parks Department. D’oh!

It turns out the spikes used to have a hook on the end that corroded off. They were placed in the pond in the 1980s to hold down black plastic to control milfoil, an aquatic weed that was taking over the lake.