AP - NEW YORK - A peacock that roamed into a fast-food restaurant parking lot was attacked by man who vilified the bird as a vampire, animal-control authorities said.

Beaten so fiercely that most of his tail feathers fell out, the bird was euthanized, said Richard Gentles, a spokesman for the city’s Center for Animal Care and Control.

“It’s just unbelievable that someone would do something to a poor, defenseless animal and do it in such a cruel fashion,” he said.

The peacock, a male several years old, wandered into a Staten Island Burger King parking lot and perched on a car hood Thursday morning. Charmed employees had been feeding him bread when the man appeared.

He seized the iridescent bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started kicking and stomping the creature, said worker Felicia Finnegan, 19.

“He was going crazy,” she said.

Asked what he was doing, she said, the attacker explained, “‘I’m killing a vampire!’”

jay: it’s kind of weird that he explained. he didn’t exclaim or shout. he explained. this, to me, is the weirdest part of all the weird parts. peacock, staten island, burger king. all weird. ‘explaining’ that he was killing a vampire. weirdest.

rob: imagining an animal care worker with the surname “gentles” stooping to pick up that bird is just about enough to make me weep. (then again, if your vampire radar picks up a strong signal, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.)