Police department ‘terrified’ by red ‘It’ balloons tied to sewer grates

Christopher Buchanan | WXIA-TV, Atlanta

Show Caption Hide Caption Pennywise returns in Stephen King's 'IT' Clowns are about to become scary again as Stephen King's 'It' hits the big screen for the first time. Video provided by Reuters

A spooky promotional tactic for a Stephen King movie remake is leaving some Pennsylvania police officers quaking in their boots.

The Lititz Borough Police Department said "they were completely terrified" when they found balloons tied to sewer grates, a tactic infamously used in Stephen King's It movie to lure children to the grates.

"We give points for creativity, however, we want the local prankster to know that we were completely terrified as we removed these balloons from the grates and we respectfully request that they do not do that again," the department said on their Facebook page.

The eerie balloons appeared days before the movie It opens in theaters. For those unaware of the story, they recommended that the public search for It online and ended their statement with three ominous words from the original movie: "You'll float too."

Since then the post has been shared more than 10,000 times and reached even more.

They later had a little more fun with the post with a follow-up that they were putting the Criminal Investigations Division on the case of this balloon caper adding that it "took on a life it's own (no pun intended)."

The picture included, well, "It" speaks for itself.