When signal wires were cut on Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway, police suspected metal thieves were to blame - but it turned out to be the work of beavers.

Transport police were called to a section of the famous trans-continental line in the southern Kemerovo region by railway staff, after the signalling system was knocked out, the local Kemerovo Independent City Site reports. "This often happens in remote areas, where criminals on the hunt for non-ferrous metals steal equipment or cut out sections of cables," the police say in a statement.

But after arriving at the scene and finding that the copper wiring had been severed but was still in place, officers realised they weren't really needed. "Bringing the wrongdoers to justice is unlikely given that the signal was disabled by local beavers that inhabit a small nearby swamp," the tongue-in-cheek statement continues, describing the rodents as "shaggy miscreants". The damage was swiftly repaired.

Plenty of felled trees and gnawed bushes nearby suggest the colony is flourishing, despite living next door to a busy railway line. Russia has seen a resurgence of its beaver population in recent years, as fewer are being hunted for their fur.
The police seem to be having some fun with their unnecessary call-out, judging by their Twitter feed. Alongside a statement on the incident, they included a photo of a cartoon beaver, its teeth clamped around a tree trunk

Russian separatist beavers. Probably shot the wires down!