transported to a hospital in banana boxes

Here's a sentence I never expected to read . . . anywhere:

"The area, around Baquba, has become one of the most violent in the country. Authorities found eight heads on a road in the area on Saturday that they transported to a hospital in banana boxes. One of the heads belonged to Sheik Abdel Aziz Mashhadani, 39, from the restive town of Tarmiya, his cousin said."

You just don't expect to run across a sentence like that in the New York Times. And did the one head in particular still "belong" to Mr. Mashhadani? I mean, once it comes off, you've "lost" it, haven't you?