It’s apparently prank season in certain campus areas in Canada, but an elaborate hoax made headlines earlier this week, and it wasn’t near a university.

Discovered by a commuter on Wednesday morning was an old and burned Honda Civic, hanging from an overpass, near a Toronto highway.

“I was carpooling into work, and a passenger – actually it was my mother-in-law – was looking into the treed area of the Don River, and she noticed a car dangling there.” When he pulled over to take a closer look, he found that the area “was already taped off”, but the tape could have been purchased by anyone, the commuter added.

Out of concern for the public safety, the man, quoted by NationalPost, contacted the emergency services, as the area under the bridge includes popular hiking trails and is also appreciated among dog-walkers.

After securing the area under the bridge, the authorities then cut it down the same day and sent out a release, asking anyone who knows anything about this incident to contact them.

“Obviously someone had intentionally put it up there, because it was tied to a winch system”, commented Captain Adrian Ratushniak, from the Toronto Fire Services. “I haven’t seen anything like this in 30 years. I’ve seen vehicles placed in unusual places. Over 30 years, you see some strange things. But this one in particular? No.”

It’s a prank, bro!

According to reports, the police is treating this incident as a potential prank, and will continue to investigate. Whoever they catch, will face some serious charges.

Toronto Mayor, John Tory, is grateful that nobody was injured as a result, and glad that the car wasn’t hanging over “a developed neighborhood, or a school, or a public park”.

Students at the University of British Columbia’s engineering school have an almost annual tradition of stashing a classic Volkswagen Beetle. Back in 2001, they suspended it from the San Francisco Golden Bridge.