"Crusty" The 10 Pound Lobster Steamed

ELGIN, Scotland, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A hotel recently cooked up one of the largest lobsters caught off Scotland by divers, and now locals are upset about it.

The 2-foot long, 10-pound crustacean, known as "Crusty," was a beloved local celebrity that should have been saved and not eaten by the Mansefield Hotel guests in Elgin, irate residents told The Scotsman.

"We reckon it could be as much as 50 years old," said Kenneth Ross of the Elgin-based Burgsac Sub-Aqua Club. "To kill such an old beast is very short-sighted; the meat would not have been very good and, in my opinion, such a rare example of our coastal marine life should have been left where it was."

The hotel maintained that it couldn't pause to ponder the celebrity status of every lobster brought in to them. They said "Crusty" was some tasty eating for about four guests.