Four frat boys are arrested after leaving a dead longhorn on the front law of another fraternity house even as their brothers begged them not to carry out the 'prank'

Bennett Fady, Luke Ackerley, Brody Shelby, Andrew King, arrested WednesdayIt comes after a month-long investigation into what cops now say was a prankThey have been released on their own recognizance after pleading not guilty

Four fraternity members have been arrested in the case surrounding a dead longhorn placed outside a rival frat house last month.

Oklahoma State University students Bennett Fady, Luke Ackerley, Brody Shelby, and Andrew King were all arrested Wednesday, following a more than month-long investigation from college-town cops.

They each face a charge of the unlawful removal/disposal of a carcass – a misdemeanor that does not warrant jail time – and have been released on their own recognizance after pleading not guilty, records show.

The strange saga began on December 1, the eve of the Big 12 championship game.

Unsurprisingly, OSU was slated to play the Texas Longhorns – leading Fady, Ackerley, Shelby, and King to cut the particular bovine’s abdomen, carve a message into it’s carcass, and fasten it to the other fraternity’s house porch, cops said.

Four fraternity members have been arrested in the case surrounding a dead longhorn placed outside a rival frat house last month

The Oklahoma State University students were arrested Wednesday, after allegedly leaving the animal outside the FarmHouse fraternity house on December 1. Pictured, Bennett Fady, who cops in the college town painted as the mastermind behind the apparent prank

Suspects Andrew King (left) and Luke Ackerley (right) were also arrested, and are being charged the unlawful removal/disposal of a carcass – a misdemeanor that does not warrant jail time. All four are facing the same allegations

Seen here is fourth and final suspect Brody Shelby, who, like the others, was almost immediately released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty

‘There was a significant amount of collective lack of cooperation from the Alpha Gamma Rho organization,’ police noted in an affidavit, which revealed that some of the students’ own fraternity brothers had been against the disturbing display.

First, though, cops described how they tracked down the owner of the longhorn – after members of the FarmHouse fraternity woke up the morning before the game to find the animal fastened to a large concrete pillar on their front porch.

Not only disemboweled, the bull was branded with the message ‘F**k FH.’

After speaking with the farmer, police learned he was one of the Alpha Gamma Rho boys’ uncles, and that a large party happened on the property the night before.

Police in Stillwater proceeded to speak with members of the fraternity – leading them to believe the left-behind animal was the result of an ongoing prank war between the groups, which are both recognized by the school.

Court documents show how cops in the college town came to that conclusion after conversations with members of the fraternity – as well as leadership and an advisor.

Conversations with the latter saw cops glean that several Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity members were allegedly responsible for the incident, before being met with pushback when trying to learn who was involved.

The advisor and senior members, cops wrote, refused to name the members accountable – hindering their investigation.

The strange saga began on December 1 of last year, the eve of the Big 12 championship game.

OSU was slated to play the Texas Longhorns – leading Fady, Ackerley, Shelby, and King to cut the particular bovine’s abdomen, carve a message into it’s carcass, and fasten it to the other fraternity’s house porch, cops said

‘There was a significant amount of collective lack of cooperation from the Alpha Gamma Rho organization,’ police noted in an affidavit, which revealed that some of the students’ own fraternity brothers had been against the disturbing display

However, investigators eventually caught a break when they were able to obtain surveillance video from the fraternity due to a search warrant, which included a blank spot during the timeframe where the incident is thought to have transpired.

In another surveillance clip, taken from near the crime scene, cop saw three people exit a white Ford truck to dump the longhorn onto the FarmHouse front lawn, with another remaining in the driver’s seat.

That truck, cops learned, belonged to the another member who they say was approached by the four cuffed shortly before the prank.

He told cops how he was asked by the group – specifically Fady – to let them use the truck and its accompanying trailer to retrieve the cow, whose organs were eventually left exposed by his captors.

The unnamed Alpha Gamma Rho member ultimately obliged, confirming to cops he allowed Fady to use his truck.

Police said the suspects proceeded to conceal the truck and its connection to the case by not immediately returning it to its owner after committing the crime – instead parking it on the east side of the farm where the cow was picked up.

The unidentified frat boy was told where the truck was located, and it was eventually driven to the owner’s home in the middle of the night at the ‘suggestion of the fraternity, to avoid detection,’ cops wrote.

Leadership for the FarmHouse fraternity – the group whose home was targeted in the prank – issued a statement saying that none of its members were involved

The revelations in the affidavit don’t stop there – with one segment revealing how  Fady, painted as the mastermind, openly discussed the plan to drop the dead longhorn with other members, some of whom urged him not to carry it out.

It was not immediately clear who relayed those claims, with cops explicitly referencing the lack of cooperation from Alpha Gamma Rho members.

They did not state whether the info came the fraternity members who spoke out against the prank, citing the ongoing investigation.

Another finding aired by cops wasd that the four accused did not actually kill the animal used in the incident.

The cow, cops wrote, died of disease 36 hours before it was branded,  and had not been specifically killed to leave on the FarmHouse  lawn.

Stillwater cops came to the that conclusion after a necropsy report, and not after speaking with the farmer.

Neighbors, meanwhile, told investigators that typically, they saw three longhorns on the as of now unidentified man’s property, but that only two remained after the prank

After the initial incident, leadership for the FarmHouse fraternity issued a statement insisting that none of its members were involved.

Having yet to respond to the arrests, OSU has issued the following statement: ‘Oklahoma State expects all students to adhere to university codes of conduct. Appropriate action will be taken based on the outcome of an ongoing internal investigation’

They added that they called police as soon as they found the slain cattle, which brought the campus to a standstill before the Big 12 Game.

The Longhorns, though, would eventually secure the last laugh – by carrying out a blowout on OSU’s Buckeyes by a score of 49 to 21.

Having yet to respond to the arrests, OSU has already issued the following statement: ‘Oklahoma State expects all students to adhere to university codes of conduct.

‘Appropriate action will be taken based on the outcome of an ongoing internal investigation.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to the college for comment.