About 20 sheep have been stolen from a farm in Aberdeenshire.
It is believed the feeding lambs were taken from Cairntradlin Farm, Kinellar, near Blackburn, on Monday night.
Kenneth Marshall, who owns the land, raised the alarm with police after his daughter noticed tractor tracks leading into the field.
Mr Marshall, whose family owns Marshall Farms, said there were about 400 sheep in the field that had been targeted.
He said: “They were stolen on Monday night. It was my daughter that noticed the sheep had been stolen, she noticed the track marks leading up to the field, so we knew someone had been in the field.
“They must have rounded them up with dogs into a tractor and trailer.”
Mr Marshall said the field was not in a particularly remote area, as it is next to Kinellar Church and warned other farmers to be vigilant.
He added: “It’s shocking that they’ve loaded them up in the middle of the night.
“We’ve had thefts in the area before, but not like this.
“It’s shocking they were brazen enough to bring up a tractor and take the sheep like this.
“I want to make people aware that this is going on.”
