JERUSALEM, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Israeli police said Sunday they had arrested eight teenagers who had been dressed as clowns to terrorize people in cities across the country.
The arrests were made during the weekend as part of a crackdown on the recent clown craze performed by teenagers, according to a police statement.
Groups of Israeli teens dressed as creepy clowns, wearing masks and armed with real or mock light weapons, started to show up in cities across the country a few weeks ago.
The incidents were linked to the recent release of the Hollywood horror movie "It," based on a novel by Steven King.
The Israeli police began to crack down on the clowns after a 10-year-old girl was attacked in the southern city of Beersheba on Tuesday.
The girl's face was sprayed with pepper spray by two clowns, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, adding that the suspects were arrested.
A 15-year-old suspect was taken into custody by the police in Jerusalem for questioning after he was caught carrying a spooky mask and a plastic axe.
In the southern district, two 15-year-old boys were detained after they were witnessed chasing children, wearing masks and holding a red broom in a public park.
In Nazareth, the police detained a 14-year-old boy on Thursday night after he was found carrying a clown mask and a plastic gun while hiding in the bushes with other teens. He was later released for a five-day house arrest, the police said.
Police in Afula, a city in northern Israel, warned in a post on Facebook that the activities, whose sightings have spread across the state and were posted on the social media, were illegal.
"The concern is that the target of the prank will misinterpret the joke as threatening and will injure the perpetrator," wrote the police.
