Sixteen cattle, worth in the region of €25,000, have been reported stolen in the Cootehill area of Co Cavan.

The cattle were reported to have been stolen between 7.30pm and 8am on Wednesday 21 June.

Farmer Finbarr Reburn reported the stock stolen to the gardaí last Thursday morning when he arrived on the land to check the cattle.

The stock included four in-calf heifers and 12 two-year-old continental bullocks that Reburn was expecting to finish for September.

He told the Irish Farmers Journal that he believed the cattle were walked out of the field and up half a mile of a narrow country road in Corfad, then loaded into a neighbour’s cattle crush to be loaded into trailers and taken away.

Two cattle were left behind after they jumped into a neighbour’s field along the roadway the rustlers used.

“This was a well-planned and well-executed robbery,” he claimed.

Gardaí in Baileborough are investigating and can be contacted on 042-969 4570.