A family has shared their devastation after learning their pet peacock had been “brutally” killed by teenagers with catapults.

Alison Carter and daughter Macey Michael-Carter, from Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone, were about to go on holiday on April 21, when they were told their beloved pet had been targeted by a group of teenagers with slingshots.

WARNING: GRAPHIC AND DISTRESSING CONTENT BELOW

CCTV from a neighbour’s camera shows a group of five boys and one girl, three of which had slingshots, attempting to shoot the peacock named River out of a tree using a catapult.

Three boys can be seen to fire and aim at the bird more than 20 times from the road before climbing over the fence onto the roof of a private property to fire at the animal again.

The footage then captures the bright-feathered bird falling out of the tree, flapping in distress and cowering in a corner.

The video shows the three suspects continue to fire at the bird from the rooftop before two of them make their way onto the woodyard grounds.

The CCTV then captures the moment one of the suspect lifts up the peacock by its wings and is seen to hold the bird like a trophy, before another boy rips out his feathers.

Before leaving the property, one of the suspects picks up the peacock and attempts to hide him in the corner behind some wood.

Alison, 57, told KentOnline: “I was devastated, and I still am - he is part of the family, he played and walked around with our dog Ziggy.

“He was like a dog he would follow you around, he would come into the kitchen, he would have trusted them.

The neighbour told the family he had seen a group of teenagers around his woodyard and decided to check his CCTV where he was able to see the incident take place.

The family had rescued River five-and-a-half-year ago after he had been kept in a small box without sunlight and was found “featherless and “frightened.”

Through building up trust they say he became tame, friendly and “happy for his freedom”.

Since reporting the incident to the police the family are yet to hear back, but say they have names of the people believed to be the suspects after sharing a snapshot of the CCTV footage on Facebook.

“It’s been four days so they police should have got back to us by now,” Alison added.

After sharing the footage online, Alison says her 17-year-old daughter has been contacted by one of the suspects who allegedly told her “your peacock is 6ft under and you are going to be next”.

As a result, daughter Macey, 23, says the family “don’t feel safe with letting our animals out in our area” and have stopped their five other peacocks from roaming about freely because they are worried the offenders may come back.

Alison, of Old Tree Lane, says the day after the peacock was killed someone aimed a catapult at one of her dogs leaving a mark which drew blood.

Speaking of the impact, Macey added: “It would be upsetting if he died on his own terms, but it was the fact he was brutally killed that makes it even worse.

“He would come up to you and feed out of your hand, he was so tame and friendly – it was an evil act that didn’t need to happen at all.”

Since the offence, the mother and daughter say the community have been horrified and want to find out what’s going to happen to the suspects.

“Everyone knew him in the community - he was a really big character,” Alison added.

The family now hope the police do something to stop this type of crime and says “this catapult business is a deadly weapon”.

Macey and Alison have said the news has made it impossible to enjoy their holiday which they have cut short and are “dreading going home”.

“He’s not just a bird, he’s part of the family.

“I think the police need to do something because these people need to be punished, something needs to be done now,” Alison added.

It comes after two catapults and 62 ball bearings were seized from two boys allegedly firing at wildlife in Paddock Wood.

Police told KentOnline officers are investigatinga report a peacock was deliberately killed at a location off Old Tree Lane.