A pair of deputy sheriffs got a hankering for some chicken the other day, so they decided to drop by a Zaxby’s in Shelby, North Carolina.

For you folks in Wisconsin, Zaxby’s is a Southeastern fast-food chain specializing in chicken fingers and wings. Although they do have delicious fried pickles — but I digress.

Anyway, the Cleveland County deputies (who were in uniform) placed their orders — and then something very disturbing happened.

Several workers in the back of the kitchen allegedly began hollering at the law enforcement officers and calling them names. And one of the workers allegedly tampered with one deputy’s meal.

The wife of one of the deputies took to Facebook and gave a detailed telling of the incident that was then picked up by television station WBTV.

“It is tough enough to watch my husband put on his uniform and go out into a world full of hate towards cops, all the while I sit home and worry if he will return home safely,” she wrote.

The deputy’s wife was not identified by the local news media or the sheriff’s department.

“I have pretty much kept my mouth shut, publicly, about the status of our country these days — but enough is enough,” she declared.

She went on to describe how the workers did something to her husband’s lunch, making it inedible.

“My husband realized that the boys had put the hottest sauce possible on his wings — to the point where his food wasn’t even fit to eat,” she wrote.

Capt. Joel Shores said the department reached out to Zaxby’s and it’s mighty sorry about what happened.

“They have told us it will be fully investigated and are extremely sorry that this occurred,” Shores wrote on Facebook. ‘They were very apologetic.“

The workers were not identified, but it’s safe to say, if the allegations are true, their chickens are about to come home to roost.

Zaxby’s released a statement to Fox 46 in Charlotte, and the first thing it wanted folks to know is that its franchise in Shelby, North Carolina, is "independently owned and operated.”

Sounds to me like somebody just got thrown under the chicken coop.

“It is our goal to always provide every guest with exceptional service,” they wrote in the statement, vowing to “quickly resolve the issue.”

The owner of the local franchise told The Shelby Star that they are “very big supporters of the community and law enforcement and all first responders.”

“This is something we take very seriously,” he told the newspaper.

The sheriff’s department seems to be satisfied with Zaxby’s handling of the issue.

“We are not going to judge an entire franchise based on a couple (of) employees,” Capt. Shores wrote on his Facebook page. “That is what is happening to us in Law Enforcement and we are above that.”

“Zaxby’s cannot be judged on a few bad apples,” he added.

That’s true.

But if it’s all the same, the next time the deputies get a hankering for the Gospel Bird, they should consider dropping by Chick-fil-A.