TOWNSHIP E – An 86-year-old Rumford man died Thursday when his car struck and killed a moose, police said.

Earl Doyen was driving on Route 17 south of Rangeley at around 2 a.m. when his car collided with the adult female moose. The animal hit the car’s windshield and crushed its roof, said Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine State Police.

McCausland said the accident was discovered by a motorist who saw the dead moose in the middle of Route 17 and called police.

When state troopers arrived at the scene, they found Doyen’s car in a ditch along the roadside, according to McCausland.