Bear Hollow Zoo was closed for a time Saturday after someone entered the zoo during the night and broke out windows, cut locks, scrawled graffiti and damaged fencing.

The vandals also let a small screech owl out of its enclosure, an act that one zoo official said will likely mean the bird's death.

"He's just a little guy," Zoological Coordinator Clint Murphy said Saturday afternoon.

The owl was injured and could not fly well - which was why it was in the zoo, where it was used in educational programs, according to Murphy.

"If he was a fully flighted bird, I wouldn't keep him here," said Murphy, who said the zoo, on Gran Ellen Drive off South Milledge Avenue in Memorial Park, will reopen Sunday.

The owl, with reddish feathers, is only about 7 inches tall. The bird can fly a short distance, and could be hiding somewhere the thick foliage of the forest that surrounds the zoo, Murphy speculated Saturday. Anyone who spots the owl, which has two leather straps dangling from its ankles, is asked to call Athens-Clarke County police through 911 or at (706) 546-5900.

"He could be eaten," Murphy said. "There are a lot of possums and raccoons in the area along with cats and dogs."

Murphy said a worker who arrived at the zoo early Saturday discovered the damage, and the zoo's staff quickly responded.

"Everybody from my supervisor on down came in," he said. "We called the Athens police and five officers and the CSI team came out."

Murphy clearly was frustrated by the crime.

"It was pretty selfish act by uninformed people. If they 'quote' want to free the animals, they are ignorant, because these animals cannot live on their own," he said. "They pretty much condemned that owl to a slow death, so that shows real concern for the animals."

Murphy praised his staff, many of whom came in on their day off.

"These are highly educated college graduates that have been working in this field and under my direction to become some of the best environmental interpreters out there. We have done more for conservation than the idiot or idiots who did this," Murphy said. "If they have the courage to come and talk to me I welcome them."

Follow writer Wayne Ford on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WayneFordABH.