He was a troubled animal who now rests in peace. The people of Carmel, however, are on the rampage.

The most telling display of local sentiment after the death of a male black bear in downtown Carmel last Wednesday was a sign tacked to the pine tree from which the bruin crashed 50 feet to its death. In hand-lettered print, the sign read: "Save The Bears. Shoot The Game Warden." In the same hand, with the same ink, the word "Shoot" was crossed out and replaced with "Dart."

In Salinas, human beings are shot with real bullets so regularly it''s hard to keep up with the running tally. In Carmel, a nomadic bear getting shot with a tranquilizer dart and falling out of a tree has spawned a wave of public grief and outrage.

Stacked up against the base of the tree last Friday afternoon were what had to be a few hundred dollars'' worth of store-bought bouquets. Also placed there were strawberries, a jar of honey, an ear of corn, a peanut butter sandwich and a glass jar of flowers. In the span of a half hour, three women pulled off the road to offer yet more flowers.

Libby Osnes-Erie, an aviculturist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, brought lilies. Osnes-Erie worked for the SPCA a few years ago when a black bear wandered through the mall in Sand City. That bear eventually wandered into an old Fort Ord bunker, where it was darted and hustled away to a less public place.

The 5-year-old, 268-pound bear that died in Carmel, by contrast, was treed after police followed it through town. When California Department of Fish and Game officers showed up and shot it with a tranquilizer dart, the bear didn''t follow the script. Dart in place, it climbed a few branches, then grew woozy and fell, missing the cushions game wardens had laid out. The heavily sedated ursine trespasser hit a garage roof and died about 20 minutes later from a ruptured liver and punctured lung.

Maybe the bear-a youngster thought to be the same one spotted earlier in the week at Laguna Seca-could have been waited out in a siege action, but, says Osnes-Erie, "I have a feeling there was probably a lot of pressure on the Fish and Game to get the bear out of a public area."

Asked whether anyone had pushed for a fast bear extrication, City Manager Rich Guillen said on Friday, "It didn''t come from the City Council or myself." Reports from the police and Fish and Game are expected this week by the City Council.

At the memorial on Friday, Liane Sandlin noted proudly that she was the first person to offer flowers. She had gone over on Thursday morning with a bunch of tulips and yarrow. The bouquet was comprised of "all sweet things" she and her cohorts at the Trajan Art Gallery thought a bear would appreciate.

At lunchtime the next day, the stylishly dressed Sandlin was back at the tree. "I was so upset by it the next morning, well, I was enraged," she confessed. "I didn''t know what to do. What makes me upset is we''re Carmel, and we''re known as a sanctuary."

The grief over the bear is so deep that someone left a sign at the tree urging litigation. "You should all start a class action suit against California Fish & Game," it said. Another invoked religion: "If Jesus returned to see how humans treat their wild family members, he''d weep. Please try to forgive the STUPID and mean people who live among us."

As it happens, this isn''t the first time this bear has triggered emotion-or a gunshot. According to Dr. Dave Jessup, senior wildlife veterinarian for Fish and Game, the dead bear was a problem bear, a Dumpster-diving bear-a marked bear. During a post-mortem examination, more then 300 shotgun pellets showed up on X-rays, indicating the animal had been shot six or seven times. The pellets were embedded in skin and muscle from head to toe, and the wounds were healed, meaning the shootings had happened some time ago. Additionally, garbage-rubber bands, paper towels and artichoke leaves-was found in the bear''s stomach. Unlike the shotgun pellets, the rubbish was fresh.

For Fish and Game, the entire affair has gone about as badly as it could have. Steve Martarano, a spokesperson at Fish and Game headquarters in Sacramento, says the local office got so many calls from concerned citizens that overflow was diverted to him. He said a lot of people just wanted to "vent." One caller wanted to know if the bear''s carcass would be available-for stuffing.

Asked whether the game wardens were pressured to get the bear out of the tree, Martarano said electrical power had been cut off in a four-block area, as the bear''s roost was near a utility pole. There were other factors as well, including a crowd of rubberneckers.

"Technically, policy was followed," says Martarano, but what ended up happening "was the worst case scenario."

Despite the warm outpouring for the now dead animal, Martarano says, "A place for a bear is not downtown Carmel."

Especially not a bear that eats paper towels.