Three teenagers were spotted 'torturing' a squirrel in Ashford after coaxing it out of a tree with a catapult.

The attack happened in Victoria Park at midday on Sunday when the youths were seen shooting the animal before running away and leaving it covered in blood.

Deb Sharpe was walking through the park at the time when she stopped to help the creature.

"The poor animal didn't die, they just tortured it. It was bleeding from its face," she said.

The 53-year-old said she chased the youths past the park's historic Hubert Fountain and saw one crying before they got away.

She added: "Yes this was 'just' a squirrel, but what's next, someone's pet?

"It astounds me it really does, what goes through their minds?

"The younger one was crying and throwing up and was screaming that it 'wasn't him', but he didn't stop it from happening."

Lucy Wakley from The Coffee Shed, which has a van in Victoria Park, helped the squirrel into a cardboard box before calling for help.

She said: "The squirrel was in shock at first. We moved it to some bushes but when I went back to check it had gone.

"I think it took time to calm down before running away.

"I hope it didn't die but there was a lot of blood.

"I work in the park quite a lot and I never see anything bad happening so hopefully it's a one off."

Police say local officers, who carry out regular patrols in the park, have been made aware.

However is not the first time catapults have been used as weapons in Ashford which was previously named the catapult crime capital of Kent.

In February, a rescue cat was left with a shattered nose and a hole in its face after being hit with a ball bearing.

In March, several people reported having their cars damaged on a 100-metre stretch of ring-road - despite police introducing a dispersal order to try and stop trouble in just one weekend.

Three catapults were taken from a group of youths after they used them to fire objects from a town centre car park in May.

A couple had to be taken to hospital in the summer following a night-time attack in South Ashford.

The pair had been walking along Beaver Lane when they were approached by a trio of young men at the junction of Cuckoo Lane.

Last month two mutilated squirrels were tied up and hung from a telegraph pole.