Associated Press

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — Officials have released a sketch of a man suspected of shooting and killing a peacock from his Mercedes-Benz earlier this month in Southern California.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday (http://lat.ms/1rqJcQO ) that witnesses told authorities they saw the suspect shooting the exotic bird with a pellet gun July 9 on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

Witnesses say the bird was standing in a driveway and the man fired from the driver's seat of the silver Mercedes sedan.

The newspaper reports more than 50 peafowl have been killed or injured in the past two years in the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Rolling Hills Estates areas.

Some of the killings were accidental, but a significant number apparently were intentional, prompting an investigation by animal control and law enforcement officials.