Man charged after fake horse head left at Calgary mayor's home

A stock photo of a horse mask. (Getty Images)

A Calgary man is facing charges after he allegedly left a latex horse head in front of Mayor Jyoti Gondek's home.

The horse mask, which police say was part of a costume, was left on Gondek's driveway at around 3:30 a.m. on April 19.

Footage from a doorbell camera showed the incident unfolding, including the moment when the accused allegedly put an anti-vaccination sticker on the mayor's house.

Police say the mayor didn't see the incident, and it was her driver that spotted the costume horse head.

Now a common cultural reference, the idea of using a horse head to intimidate someone originated from a scene in 1972's The Godfather, in which a decapitated horse head is left in movie producer Jack Woltz's bed after he refused to cast Don Corleone's godson in his film. 

On April 24, Shane Renard Kuelker, 43, was charged with one count of criminal harassment and stunting in a motor vehicle.

The mayor's office declined to comment on the incident.