A 46-year-old man was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing the head of a cow after killing the animal at a ranch in central Japan, police said.

The Philippine national identified as Osualdo Alemania Galindo is suspected of slaughtering a 1.8-meter-long female cow apparently with an accomplice at a ranch in Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, early Friday.

The police did not reveal whether or not the suspect has admitted to the charge.

According to police, an officer attempted to speak to Galindo and another man on a street in a nearby city at around 4 a.m., whereupon the other man fled. The officer found a blood stain on Galindo's bicycle, and some two hours later, police received a report from the ranch about one of its cows having died apparently during dismemberment.

The body of the 500-kilogram, 4-year-old cow was found just outside the ranch's fence with its head and right foreleg missing. The whereabouts of the man who was with Galindo remain unknown and the missing parts of the cow have not yet been found, the police said.

The police are also looking into the possibility of charges based on suspicion of violating the animal law.