They could have sent flowers. They might have sent candy. But instead, five undergraduates opted to give students a more risque Valentine's Day gift last night.

Three males and two female undergraduates, wearing only reindeer masks, streaked through Mather and Leverett dining halls around 6 p.m. yesterday, shouting messages of love to unsuspecting students.

According to witnesses, the streakers entered the dining hall wearing trench coats, stripped and began their revealing romp around the dining hall, shocking the peaceful eaters.

"When I looked up there were five naked people running through," said Natasha D. Bir '96, who was dining in Leverett. "They had paper bags and antlers on their heads. There was also someone behind them who was carrying their coats."

The streakers also wrote Valentine's day greetings on their bodies.

"They had stuff written on their chests in red letters, like the sayings on candy Valentine hearts," Patty G. Kornfield '94 said.

"They made a complete circuit around the dining hall making random and weird noises," she said.

"We wanted to say 'Happy Valentine's Day' in a way that was fun and sweet and outgoing," said a streaker who called herself "Moose T."

Identifying himself only as "Undermoose," a second streaker said, "The idea was just to spread Valentine cheer and joy across campus."

The original intent was to streak through all 12 of the College's dining halls, Undermoose said. But Harvard police stopped them at the doors to Quincy and Lowell.

"By the time we got to Quincy and Lowell theywere ready for us," Undermoose said. "The copswere actually pretty nice about it, though. Theylet us off and told us to go home."

Reaction, according to witnesses, ranged fromhushed shock to guttural guffaws.

"We applauded," Kornfield said. "I was tornbetween being shocked and being incrediblyamused."

"At first, everyone was just silent," MelissaJ. Pastrana '96 said. "It was kind of startling,but after a while everyone started laughing."

And some called for regular streaking in thedining halls.

"I think this was the best prank ever,"Kornfield said. "It beats running through theYard. Too bad other houses didn't get to witnessit. I think it should become another Harvardtradition."

"It would be nice to have a tradition of funny,harmless things happening regularly in the houses,though not necessarily streaking," Moose T said