A recently unearthed police report from nearly a century ago reveals one local authority's efforts to protect the famed Loch Ness Monster from a harpoon-wielding hunter. The enlightening document was reportedly found by researcher Kenny Welsh, who serves as a staff member at the Loch Ness Centre tourist attraction. Composed in 1938 by Inverness-shire chief constable William Fraser, the report indicated that he had recently learned of a Londoner who was "determined to catch the Monster dead or alive."

This individual, identified as "a Mr. Peter Kent," seemed to particularly perturb the constable as he recounted how one of his officers had recently encountered the man and was aghast at his plans. Welsh wrote that Kent told the cop "that he was having a special harpoon gun made and that he was to return with some twenty experienced men on the 22 of August for the purpose of hunting the Monster down." The constable subsequently noted that he warned the would-be Nessie slayer "of the desirability of having the creature left alone," though expressed skepticism that his words would "have the desired effect."

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the missive was Welsh's take on the monster's existence and authorities' ability to safeguard the animal as he mused "that there is some strange creature in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful." Fortunately, Kent's ambitious plan to hunt down the cryptid either never came to fruition or was a dismal failure as, decades later, the site's famed monster is as elusive and mysterious as it was when constable Walsh wrote his report so long ago.