PITTSBURGH  —  A man gave his ex-girlfriend a gift-wrapped package containing the severed head of a kitten, police said.

Police on Friday charged Benjamin Gregory, 30, of Aliquippa, with stalking and cruelty to animals.

A woman found the package wrapped in pink tissue paper and red bows on Sunday when she returned to her home in the city's Mount Washington neighborhood, police said.

Inside was the severed head of a kitten between 12 and 16 weeks old and a note that read, "I love you, Your Ben," police said.

The woman told police that Gregory, her former boyfriend, had been leaving photographs of the two of them with her face destroyed, police said.

Gregory's attorney denied the charges and said his client is not a violent person.

Gregory was in the Allegheny County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.