Animal sanctuary bosses say they have been left heartbroken after a newly rescued goat was stolen overnight.
Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats rescued a young male on Friday after being told by a member of the public that no owners had come forward to find him.
He had been taken in by a resident in Marden after being found loose and wandering around the streets.
Head of hoofstock at the sanctuary, Ben Ward, says staff discovered the animal, whom they named Taco, was missing this morning.
After looking at CCTV, four men were captured stealing him from the site in Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone, shortly before 11pm on Saturday.
Mr Ward explained: “We were initially contacted on Thursday.
“Someone had taken him into their back garden in Marden temporarily, but 24 hours later nobody came forward so we collected him Friday afternoon.
“We don’t know how he was treated as he was quite a timid character.
“But when he came in this morning he was nowhere to be seen.
“We looked at the CCTV and have found four people broke in very quickly.
“It seemed like they knew what they were doing as they avoided setting off alarms.
“All the staff are more angry here – we’re a small animal charity here for the welfare of those animals.
“For someone to do that, it’s unthinkable.
“On one of the bits of CCTV, it looks like he’s wriggling away and being held onto tightly as well, so anyone with any inclination as to where he could be should get in touch as he’s very young – between one and two.”
Mr Ward said the sanctuary has contacted police about the incident.
They are urging anyone to contact officers using reference 46/114812/25.
