A deer that found its way onto the PATCO train tracks crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge caused service delays on the high-speed line Wednesday morning.

PATCO officials told passengers that the wild animal somehow got access to the eastbound set of tracks, which run along the side of the suspension bridge that spans the Delaware River, on the Philadelphia side around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The deer may have entered the line through an interchange in Old City Philadelphia, officials said.

A train conductor was able to stop the train and avoid hitting the deer, but it then jumped into the roadway on the bridge and was hit by a vehicle, according to PATCO. The deer did not survive.

Trains were delayed by nearly 30 minutes as crews worked to clear up the mess.

Jeremy Behrens saw the deer.

"I was ready with my camera," he said, but "Deer was eastbound and I was westbound."

Behrens gave a heads up to other riders via Twitter:

PATCO called the incident "highly unusual."

NBC10.com received several reports of a deer roaming through downtown Philadelphia earlier this morning -- including 9th and Market Streets and at 15th and Ellsworth Streets. It's unclear if this is the same deer.

PATCO resumed regular service about an hour later.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.