New York resident Mark Longo, 34, had his rural home raided by state Department of Environmental Conservation officers on Wednesday. Their objective? Peanuta social media star who also happens to be a squirrel. Officers also confiscated a raccoon named Fred from Longo's home.

“DEC came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel!” – said Longo AP news. “They treated me like I was a drug dealer and they were going for drugs and guns.”

A DEC spokesman said in a statement that the raid came after the agency received “numerous reports from the public regarding the potentially unsafe housing of wild animals that may carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wild animals as pets.”

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Seven years ago, Longo says he saw a squirrel hit by a car in New York City and noticed Peanut, who he assumed was now an orphan. Longo says he took Peanut home, nursed him for eight months, and then released him into the wild.

“A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch with half his tail missing with the bone sticking out,” Longo told AP News.

He took the squirrel back and started one Instagram account which has accumulated 534 thousand followers.

After the raid, Longo reached out to Peanut's fans on Instagram, explaining that he wasn't sure if Peanut was still alive after he was taken and vowed to start a nonprofit in the squirrel's name. He's also encouraging fans to sign one online petition calling for the squirrel to come home. At last check, it had about 24,000 signatures.

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