Police investigating homemade dummy left near Highway 401 outside Woodstock

Highway 401 near Dodge Line. (Google Maps)

Ontario Provincial Police want to know who left a homemade dummy near a highway outside Woodstock, prompting several people to call emergency services to report a person in distress.

The calls about a person in trouble near Highway 401 and Dodge Line came in around 12 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18.

When officers responded, they did not find anyone in distress, but did discover the dummy.

Obscenities were also found written in the area, leading police to investigate the incident as possibly motivated by hate or bias.

The exact nature of the obscenities was not specified.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call investigators at 1-888-310-1122.

“Anyone who was traveling on Highway 401 or Dodge Line may have seen something that seemed out of place,” Const. Randi Crawford said in an email.