DEVON and Cornwall Police received more than 1,000 reports of sheep being stolen last year, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

In 2024, the force received a total of 1,101 reports denoting stolen sheep, the FOI shows.

It does not, however, mean that 1,101 sheep were stolen last year.

This is because not every report made to or by police specified the number of sheep stolen.

As such, the true number of sheep stolen in 2024 is likely higher than the number above.

As a recent example, police received a report of an attempted theft of around 60 sheep from the Newton Abbot area on April 12.

Grazing animals can be an easy target, especially in remote rural locations.