'15 wheelbarrows loads' of pasta were mysteriously dumped in a New Jersey forest. Primo pasta puns were served.

• Authorities found hundreds of pounds of pasta dumped near a stream in Old Bridge, New Jersey.
• The motives behind the mysterious pasta dump are not publicly known.

During the past week in Old Bridge, New Jersey, weather reports forecasted rain, cloudy days, and temperature lows hovering at 30 to 50 degrees — not 500 pounds of spaghetti.

But locals were flummoxed that week when they learned that about 15 wheelbarrow loads of pasta, according to a local official, were mysteriously dumped near a stream in the New Jersey township of about 65,000 people.

Now, the incident has grasped national attention, and online spectators were quick to dish out their best pasta puns.

"We should send the perpetrators to the state penne tentiary," one Reddit user wrote.

"It was pasta expiration date," another user said.

Some joked that the incident was the clear markings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a satirical character that pokes fun at religious movements. Users responded: "R'amen."

The motives behind the pasta dump are unknown. The Old Bridge Township Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

According to The New York Times, Himanshu Shah, a town official, said in an email that the local public works department found "what appeared to be 15 wheelbarrow loads of illegal dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood."

Nina Jochnowitz, who previously ran for council in the township and posted now-viral photos of the pasta, told the newspaper that the stream is common grounds for dumping old furniture and construction materials. But this time, someone thought it was an appropriate place to leave behind about 300 to 500 pounds of spaghetti, macaroni, and alphabet-shaped pasta, she said.

Jochnowitz told the Times she eventually found out who dumped the pasta — it was not a restaurant, she said — but that she would not reveal their identity given the attention the incident has received.

The incident appeared to come straight out of a page of Tomie DePaolo's children's 1975 classic, "Strega Nona." In the book, a local doofus named Big Anthony catches a witch named Strega Nona using a spell and a magic pasta pot to cook large amounts of spaghetti. Determined to prove his discovery to the rest of the town, the young man tries to use the pot and spell and accidentally conjures up enough pasta to nearly flood the entire town.

Jochnowitz wrote on Facebook that town employees cleaned up the pasta dump, along with other garbage in the basin.

"As my friend called it, a 'Mission Impasteable'!!!" she said.