Elon Musk has called the euthanisation of an internet celebrity squirrel "deeply wrong".
The owner of Tesla has waded into the online discourse by saying it was not right for Peanut the squirrel to have been put down.
P'Nut or PNUT, as he is sometimes known, became a celebrity after being rescued by Mark Longo seven years ago.
Peanut’s journey has been documented on Mr Longo’s social media while the exploits have won him 533,000 followers on Instagram.
Mr Longo also set up P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in honour of the animal.
But fans were given the sad news that the squirrel has been euthanised.
Sky reported that New York City state stepped in as the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) seized Peanut and Mr Longo’s other pet, a raccoon called Fred.
“Peanut and Fred were beautiful creatures,” wrote Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter.
“The New York government decided that they needed to be put down to check if they had rabies… They did not have rabies.”
The last point may or may not be true as the DEC has not confirmed whether the animals had rabies or not.
Even so, Mr Musk replied to the tweet by saying the response was “deeply wrong”. He later wrote a message in support, quoting a line from Star Wars. "'If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine' Obi PNut Kenobi,” he added.
The DEC and Chemung County Department of Health confirmed on Friday that the animals were put down after Peanut bit someone - although this fact has been disputed.
Mr Musk, who in recent weeks has become a born-again enthusiastic and jubilant cheerleader for Donald Trump, used the chance to attack the US government.
He added: "What kind of person do these agencies employ? Who has it in them to murder a bloody pet squirrel?
"The government is a mindless and heartless killing machine.”
Mr Longo told the Associated Press this weekend: "Honestly, this still kind of feels surreal, that the state that I live in actually targeted me and took two of the most beloved animals on this planet away, didn't even quarantine them.
“They took them from my house and just killed them.”
The DEC is expected to make a comment on the issue but no statement was made available to the press at the time of writing.
