Livestock rustlers are being hunted by police after a large scale raid on a west Perthshire farm.
A significant number of sheep are now known to have been stolen from farm land near Comrie.
Police Scotland said the animals had been taken from the side of the B827 Comrie to Braco road over the course of the summer.
Investigators are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have seen suspicious activity in the area between April and August.
It’s understood that around 115 ewes were taken in the raid, though given the timeframe it is unclear whether they were stolen all at once.
Police Scotland said the sheep had been valued at more than £11,500 and had been taken over an “unspecified time” from “a large acreage near Comrie”.
It is the latest in a series of reported livestock thefts, with hundreds of sheep worth tens of thousands of pounds taken from farms.
The Courier recently revealed that Police Scotland believes organised national and international gangs are targeting Perth and Kinross and Angus farms.
They are feared to be using insider information to identify prime targets, slipping collaborators into farming communities as spies.
The gangs are believed to be responsible for a whole range of high value vehicle and farming machinery thefts, together with instances of large-scale livestock rustling.
In recent months, the Borders and Aberdeen-shire in particular have been plundered by thieves, with hundreds of stolen sheep believed to have sent to back street abattoirs south of the border.
Their meat is then sold cheaply on the black market, with farmers left to bear the brunt of their depredations.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “A large number of ewes were stolen from a large acreage of farm land near Comrie sometime between April and August.
“Officers would be keen to speak to anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area.”
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
