Police have launched an appeal to trace three youths after a fire near Buckie.
Police and the fire service were alerted to the gorse fire at Strathlene, between Findochty and Buckie, at around 8.45 pm on Saturday night.
While no one was injured, officers appealed to the public to help find three youngsters.
One of the youths was carrying a distinctive man bag, and the other two appeared to be in their teens.
The fire was put out by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Police Constable Christopher MacKinnon said: “We are carrying out inquiries and the fire is being treated as wilful.
“Fortunately no one was injured however a large area of ground has been damaged.
“As part of our investigation, we are trying to identify three male youths seen in the area around this time.
Descriptions of the young police police want to speak to
“The first is described as around 15 years old, long curly red hair, slim build, wearing a blue jacket.
“The second was older than the first, tall, wearing a jacket with a blue tick.
“The third was smaller than the others and carrying a man-bag.”
PC MacKinnon continued: “We are also asking anyone in the area with private CCTV to check it and get in touch if there is anything that could assist with our inquiries.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3444 of Saturday, 6 April, 2024, or get in touch with Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.