Sheep rustlers have stolen over 100 pregnant ewes from a farm on the Roseland, targeting the farm on several occasions.
Jeremy Hosking's sheep had been out over winter in a number of different locations in the area and that he noticed 102 sheep were missing when they were brought back for lambing and their tags were checked
Calling the theft of the sheep over several months from Fentongollan Farm "a sophisticated and well thought out plan", he said the sheep were particularly valuable as they were part of a breeding programme aimed at producing an Aberdale hybrid sheep.
Ian Johnson, from the National Farmers' Union, said: "Anyone buying stock or meat needs to check records very carefully and farmers should, whenever possible, make access to animals in fields as difficult as possible including locking gates.
"Any suspicious activity and vehicle movements should be reported to the police as should all actual thefts."
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