Villagers in an Indonesian community killed and disemboweled a Sumatran tiger after it apparently attacked locals, a conservation official told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency on Monday. Locals in northern Sumatra's Hatorangan village reportedly put the endangered tiger on display by hanging it from a ceiling.

The tiger had been spotted roaming around the village since February and the villagers initially thought it was a supernatural creature. The official said the villagers followed the tiger back to its lair Monday where it eventually attacked two people, leaving them seriously injured, according to AFP.

The villagers ignored warnings from an official who advised them not to kill the endangered animal, and prevented the official from intervening.

This picture taken on March 4, 2018, shows the carcass of a Sumatran tiger hung from a ceiling as villagers gather underneath at Hatupangan village in North Sumatra. Getty

"Unfortunately they would not listen. They insisted on killing the tiger," Hotmauli Sianturi, the head of Indonesia's Natural Resources Conservation Agency, told AFP. "After killing the animal, the locals hung up its body for display. It's very regrettable."

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Sianturi told Reuters that the villagers tried to use a trap to catch the tiger, and said her agency would "prove that its body parts are being traded."

An investigation showed the remains were missing canine teeth, claws and skin from its face and tail, Reuters reports.