A number of ewes and lambs were killed and taken from a farm at Ballyegan, Co Offaly last Saturday night.

When the farmer, Liam Egan, went outside on Sunday morning his flock’s pet lamb did not come running up as normal.

On checking further he found the lamb dead in the paddock, lying near the road fence, with its throat cut. Two ewes and three other lambs were missing.

There was blood in the field and drag marks indicating the carcases had been lifted over the fence on to the public roadway.

“They took the whole carcases away, presumably to butcher them somewhere else,” Egan said.

He added: “The fact that the paddock is near both the road and touching the house was no protection.”

The value of the animals taken was €600 to €700. “It’s not so much the value as the act itself. It’s frightening to think these guys were outside with knives while you’re inside in your bed.”

The raiders cut off the sheeps’ ears that had tags and threw them over another fence. Egan reported the matter to the gardaí who came out to his farm to investigate.

Meanwhile, on Sunday last week, dogs attacked and killed three lambs and injured up to 10 sheep on a farm in Kilcock, Co Kildare.

The farmer, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the dogs ran the lambs into a river where they drowned.