Dog walkers in Southern California discovered a severed human head in a bag while hiking in the Hollywood Hills, authorities said.

The walkers found the severed head Tuesday afternoon as they walked their dogs on the trail near the famed Hollywood sign.

"While the dogs were playing with it, at some point the object came out of the bag and they discovered it was a head; a severed head," Los Angeles police Sgt. Mitzi Fierro told ABC News Los Angeles station KABC.

Los Angeles Police detectives said the head belonged to a male victim.

"The head appears to be rather new. There are not a lot of signs of decomposition yet," Fierro told KABC.

Authorities plan to resume their search for the victim's body parts this morning.