Updates a story posted Friday at 12:26 p.m.

EAST LONGMEADOW — The man who discovered a strange "Blood Moon" shrine near the rail trail shortly before dawn Thursday believes it represents a reference to the deadly Ebola virus.

That's because one of the shrine's elements features a framed anime drawing of a female in a nurse's uniform holding a skull with what appears to be a representation of the Ebola virus dripping it out it.

The Know Your Meme website indicates the creepy drawing is of "Ebola-Chan," an anime "mascot" to the virus that has claimed thousands of lives in West Africa and one, just a few days ago, in the United States.

The man, an East Longmeadow resident who did not want his name to be made public, said he was walking his dog along the rail trail when he discovered the shrine at about 5:22 a.m. on Thursday.

The shrine also includes a carved wooden mask, a bowl of rice with twigs and what appeared to be fake blood mixed in, an unlit candle, sheets of paper with strange writing or symbols on it and several green and red shiny Christmas-type ornaments hanging in a nearby evergreen tree.

The man said he first saw the Christmas ornaments in the tree and then elements of the shrine gathered below.

The eerie sight prompted the man to look around to see if the shrine's maker was still around. Then he took a few photos of it with his iPhone and went to police.

"It's just kind of weird stuff," he said.

Police Sgt. Denis Sheehan said his first thought upon seeing the shrine, located to the rear of industrial buildings on Shaker Road, was that it was some kind of tribute to the total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon, that occurred early Wednesday.

Blood Moon is a term popularly used for each of the four consecutive total lunar eclipses in 2014-2015, according to timeanddate.com. The term has no technical or astronomical basis and it is unclear where it comes from.

Sheehan, asked about shrine’s apparent reference to the Ebola virus, said “It may have something to do with that.”

Sheehan said he walked that same stretch of the rail trail about 4:30 a.m. on Friday to see if anything else had been left there and found nothing. He said police will continue to monitor the situation, but at this point leaving the items there does not amount to a criminal offense. Police have since removed the shrine, Sheehan said.

"I think it may be somebody who is practicing one of those pagan religions carrying out their rites," he said.

Sheehan said the Christmas ornaments may have been placed along the rail trail at an earlier time. The man who discovered the shrine, however, said he walks along there regularly and had not seen them before.