ONTARIO, N.Y. — A giant osprey nest on top of a cell tower in the town of Ontario in Wayne County was causing problems for residents’ cell phone service.

The osprey is a protected bird under a treaty that goes back more than 100 years, and you can’t remove an active nest. However, Facebook comments from residents said the nest was affecting their phone service.

“About five weeks ago, our phones started going into S.O.S. mode only when we were at home. And if we go like outside the house, like closer to the road or drive up the street, the service comes back immediately,” Jessica Stokes said.

“And then it started becoming a real problem because if you’re out, you can’t get any phone calls,” Stokes added.

News10NBC’s Antonina Tortorello went to talk to the town supervisor about this problem.

“So the email that I got from you this morning was the first time that I was made aware of that,” Supervisor Ben Aman said.

Shortly after Tortorello talked to the supervisor, he emailed her and said that maintenance personnel and the state Department of Environmental Conservation were looking into the problem. The supervisor and the DEC say they inspected the nest and didn’t find any eggs or birds.

Roughly two hours after Tortorello went to the tower, crews took the nest down. She went back to Ontario and sure enough, the nest was gone.

“I will be very interested- My son and my husband get home in about an hour. I will be very interested to see if their phone no longer goes in to SOS.” Stokes said.

“The nest was causing a disruption to the frequency used to contact 911 and after DEC had made sure the nest was abandoned, crews were given the order to remove it,” Aman said.

News10NBC has heard from Jessica and looked at new Facebook posts. They say their phones are already starting to work better.

A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.