Newly rescued goat stolen from sanctuary

Taco was taken from the sanctuary late on Saturday night

Police are investigating after a newly rescued goat was stolen from a Kent sanctuary.

Taco went missing on Saturday night from the Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Boughton Monchelsea.

He had been rescued less than two days earlier when he was found in a local village.

Ben Ward, head of hoofstocks at the sanctuary, said staff at the sanctuary were "upset and angry" at the loss.

Police are currently reviewing CCTV footage of the sanctuary as they investigate the theft

"Given all the moving around; he'd been wandering around the streets of a village, and then he was in someone's back garden, and then he was with us, all within the space of 24-48 hours...he was relatively timid," said Mr Ward.

The sanctuary reported the theft to Kent Police, who have confirmed that an investigation is ongoing with officers currently reviewing CCTV.

The footage handed over shows a group of people wearing hoods entering the sanctuary.

Mr Ward said the team at the sanctuary experienced a "mixture of emotions" upon realising Taco had been taken.

"[We were] upset, angry, didn't really understand it, just a whole mixture of emotions... angry, I suppose, is the biggest one because why would someone do it?... especially to a place like ourselves," he said.

The sanctuary, which relies solely on public donations, told BBC South East in December that it was being overwhelmed by unwanted goats.

Mr Ward was happy to report that, following this appeal, the sanctuary managed to find foster homes for the majority of goats that came in during this period.

"We're back to a much more reasonable number for the timebeing," he said.

Anyone with information on Taco has been asked to contact Kent Police.