AUBURN - City police believe that a group of animal rights activists from Syracuse University was responsible for the vandalism at Memorial City Hall during last weekend's protests of the annual crow hunt.

A box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the scene was traced to a store on Erie Boulevard in Syracuse. The vandals left the doughnuts outside of the South Street landmark after someone spray-painted the word "Killers" on the building, said City Police Chief Gary Giannotta. The graffiti was found on the building Saturday morning, the day the crow hunt started.

A marking on the doughnuts box traced it to the Syracuse Krispy Kreme store, Giannotta said.

A group of students identifying themselves as the Syracuse Animal Rights Organization drove down from Syracuse University to participate in Sunday's protest of the crow shoot at city hall. But Giannotta doesn't know if police will be able to pinpoint exactly who spray-painted the word on city hall.

"We know the group, but probably won't target the individual who did it," Giannotta said. "But if we can, we will."

Rita Sarnicola, who organized the peaceful protest, doesn't believe the vandalism was the work of protesters. She said the vandalism may have been caused by hunters who wanted to throw the blame to protesters.

"If we were standing out in front of city hall, that's just ridiculous to imagine anyone doing that," she said. "No way anyone would do that."

Protesters believe the two-day crow hunt is cruel and should be stopped. About 200 hunters killed 1,067 crows throughout the countryside last weekend.