Villagers in a county neighboring Beijing were frightened by thousands of snakes that were released near their homes last week.

The snakes were set free on June 1 near Maoerdong village by a group from Beijing thought to be animal lovers, said an official from the forestry public security bureau of Xinglong county, in North China's Hebei province, who preferred to remain anonymous.

About 10 people stopped a vehicle near a river and set the snakes free. Construction workers who were building a road nearby rushed to the village and alerted the residents, according to a report in the Beijing Times.

The villagers went to the scene and were told that thousands of snakes, weighing more than 500 kg in total, had been released. They were upset because the location was close to their homes and called the police, according to the report.

"The people from Beijing later paid 40,000 yuan ($6,300) to the villagers as compensation," said the official.

Nearly all the men in the village were mobilized to drive away or kill the snakes, the Beijing Times reported.

The people who released the snakes said they had bought the reptiles from pet markets in Beijing and did not know where the snakes came from, the report added.

According to China's animal protection law, those who want to release wildlife from other provincial regions should get approval from the forestry authorities in the area where they plan to set them free.