Police are hunting an organised gang of rustlers who raided a Perthshire farm, stealing thousands of pounds of livestock.
The farmer has been left counting the cost after 57 of his Scottish mule lambs and ewes were stolen from a field that lies on an unclassified road between the A9 and Forteviot. The sheep were taken between 8am on Saturday and 8.30am on Sunday.
The NFU Scotland said the theft would have been “devastating” for the farmer and was part of a rural crime wave sweeping the country.
“To steal such a significant number of animals, the criminals must have been well organised with more than one vehicle, probably a dog and several people involved,” said Sarah Anderson of the NFU.
“The incident is likely to have cost the farmer thousands of pounds in lost business as well.”
The latest theft is part of a worrying trend.
“Unfortunately, these kinds of incidents are on the rise and we would implore anyone who sees suspicious activity in and around farms to notify the police,” Ms Anderson continued.
“Livestock, fuel and farm machinery are being targeted in a wave of rural crime which, according to NFU Mutual, cost Scottish farmers more than £2 million last year.
“Farms and police forces up and down the country are responding to this by strengthening farmwatch schemes.”
Sergeant Sandra Williams said: “The culprits used tools to breach the fence and appear to have loaded the sheep on to some sort of livestock transporter. It is really quite unusual.”
The sheep are all electronically tagged but this is for the source of the meat to be traceable rather than as a means of the sheep being tracked.
The thieves are likely to remove the tags from the ears of the animals and without this documentation they may well be illegally killed in unregulated conditions, giving rise to health concerns.
The police are appealing to anyone who regularly travels between Dunning and Forteviot who saw livestock transporters or anyone acting suspiciously to contact them.