A Pennsylvania police department has asked a local "prankster" to please stop tying red, helium-filled balloons to sewer grates around town, which were obviously set in reference to Andres Muschietti's IT remake. Though the police department appreciates the creativity, the creepy promotion has been gaining a lot of attention from people familiar with IT and its upcoming release while puzzling residents who have no idea what the heck is going on. The buzz has gotten a little out of hand after the Lititz Borough Police Department posted about the incident on social media and now the department seems to be having more fun with IT after their original post became a viral hit.

The Lititz Borough Police Department's Facebook page originally posted an image of the red balloon and even quoted the tagline: "You'll Float Too" in their response to the clever "prankster." The police department admits to being "completely terrified" as they removed the balloons. The post reads.

"A certain movie is coming to theaters in two days, and a local prankster took it upon themselves to promote the movie. We give points for creativity, however we want the local prankster to know that we were completely terrified as we removed these balloons from the grates and we respectfully request they do not do that again. If you're not sure what we're talking about, search IT and watch the preview... but we suggest watching the preview with a friend or coworker with all the lights on and the sound down low."

It certainly seems that the officer, or officers, responsible for the post are very familiar with Stephen King's IT and the upcoming release of the big screen adaptation. The post was a hit, so the department decided to come up with a follow up post the following day.

The next post from the Lititz Borough Police Department included a picture of an officer in a red clown wig dusting red balloons for prints. The clown investigator is in hot pursuit of the "prankster" or "thing" responsible for the blatant promotion of the horror movie. They are obviously having a great time with the attention and further poking around their Facebook page proves that the police department has an excellent rapport with city residents. The second post reads.

"Sooooo our Red Balloon and IT post we posted earlier today took on a life its own(no pun intended), and now due to widespread media coverage all over the country and intense public scrutiny and outcry, we have turned the investigation over to our Criminal Investigations Division for further investigation and prosecution of the person(s), errr ah, 'thing' responsible. CID wasted no time springing into action, here's one of them checking for fingerprints with their ever so handy can of 'duster.' Don't worry everyone, we'll have the person or 'thing' responsible in custody in no time, these guys really know what they're doing! P.S. Don't tell them that Clowns wear gloves, we want to see how long this keeps them occupied!"

In the scream-inducing horror story by legendary author Stephen King, a killer clown named Pennywise lures children to storm drains with floating red balloons before attacking them. That story, however, takes place in Maine. The prank comes just a week after police warned that sightings of "creepy clowns" may be increased due to the upcoming release of IT and since then, there have been similar warnings in 16 other states. The creepy clown craze happened a year ago and scared the crap out of schools, parents, and children while leading to arrests of people dressed as clowns to feed off the public fear.

Andres Muschietti's IT remake is almost upon us and all of the reviews seem to be mostly positive while Hollywood is hoping for the fall release to pump some life into the dwindling box office numbers of the disappointing summer. Whether It has what it takes to save this year's box office remains to be seen, but the movie is already breaking records at Fandango in advance ticket sales. It's possible that the Lititz Borough Police Department might have a hand in making some of those advanced sales with their witty posts about the floating red balloons.