The carcass of a dead goat with a threatening note attached to it was found outside state Assemblyman Greg Ball's home in Putnam Lake Wednesday, police say.

Upon arriving from Albany, Ball pulled into the driveway of his Patterson home late Wednesday night to discover a scene straight out of "The Godfather" right in front of his house. At first, he was not sure what he was looking at, but as he moved closer, he realized a dead goat was lying in the middle of the street.

Ball says someone wrote a death threat on a piece of cardboard and put it around the animal's neck. The note had the name of the gang "MS 13" on it and was written in Spanish. Ball, who has been critical of U.S. immigration policy in the past, says he believes the culprit was trying to mislead him.

"I immediately called the police," he says. "I've had harassment over the past two years, this one took the cake."

Authorities have been notified about several harassment incidents allegedly committed against Ball, including vandalism to his cars and swastikas drawn at his campaign headquarters.

Despite Wednesday's incident, Ball says he is still considering running for U.S. Congress in 2010.

"First, you have to make sure if your family is safe," Ball says. "Outside of that, something like this doesn't affect me whatsoever."

While police say they do not have any leads in the case, Ball says he believes a security camera might have captured the image of the perpetrator.