New Delhi, May 16 -- US law enforcement officials on Thursday said they were investigating a social media post made by former FBI Director James Comey, which had an image saying '8647'. The now-deleted Instagram post sparked fear among supporters of Donald Trump, who said that it could be interpreted as a threat to the President.

Comey, dismissed by Trump during his first term in office, had shared the photo showing seashells arranged to form the number "8647."

"Cool shell formation on my beach walk," Comey had captioned the post.

However, he deleted the post later following an uproar from Trump supporters. He said he had assumed it was merely a "political message."

"I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. I...