Stonington — Accidental damage to a wooden statue of Stonington High School’s mascot added insult to injury after the varsity football team’s 35-0 loss to Fitch High School Friday night.

The large carved bear lost an arm in an accident involving Fitch students after the game, according to police.

Stonington Police Capt. Todd Olson explained that some Fitch students were posing for pictures with the bear after the game when the arm broke off.

Olson said the incident appeared to have been accidental and due to the deterioration of the statue.

“The wood is in a very rotted state,” he said, adding, “the lieutenant who was in charge of that event confirmed he didn’t feel there was any intent to break it and that he checked it out and it appears to be all rotted.”

The bear, carved by a wood crafter in Maine, was gifted to the school by the graduating class of 1999.

Stonington High School Athletic Director Bryan Morrone said, “story has it, the Class Advisor (Dave Parkinson) drove all the way up there to pick it up.”

The statue was originally located in front of the main entrance but was moved to the rear of the building overlooking the athletic fields when the school was renovated in 2005.

Morrone said, “moving forward, I will be looking into ways to repair the arm or replace the bear.”

Olson said the lieutenant working the game tried to identify the individuals involved at the time of the accident but was unable to.

“The arm ended up breaking off, and he talked to the two kids that were potentially involved when it fell off and just explained to them, ‘hey nothing appears to be intentional here, but we’d like to know who did it,’” he said.

Olson explained the student who was posing with the bear when the arm broke off, did not know who to report it to at the time but ended up going to the Groton Town Police Department with his parents to take responsibility.

“The bottom line is, it’s not a criminal incident, just accidental damage and that’s it,” Olson said.