A girl says she and her friends are behind the red balloons found tied to sewer grates in a small Pennsylvania town, not a homicidal clown.

Seventeen-year-old Peyton Reiff tells PennLive.com (http://bit.ly/2eNBQu5 ) the girls were just trying to scare their friends in Lititz after seeing a trailer for the upcoming movie "It."

A red balloon is the calling card of Pennywise, the sewer-dwelling, child-eating clown in Stephen King's novel-turned-movie.

Reiff says the teens were surprised at how much attention the prank got after the local police made a playful post on Facebook saying they were "completely terrified" to remove the balloons.

Reiff says they will meet with the department for a "funny follow up," but says they are not being punished.

Information from: Pennlive.com, http://www.pennlive.com

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