A pig stolen from a children’s farming charity could be sold and killed for meat its owners fear.

The spotty boar was taken from its pen at one of Curly’s Farm’s sites near Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey on Tuesday night.

Farm manager Zac Andrews said: “The pen the pig was taken from backs onto woodland and bramble down.

“We believe he was taken during the night of Tuesday, August 1. When we came to tend to the animals we noticed he was missing straight away.

“He’s bigger than the rest of the pigs so we checked around the pen to see if he’d managed to escape himself but there was no evidence of that happening.

“The fact that the rest of the pigs were still in the pen also proved that hadn’t happened as they’re herd animals and follow one another.

“We looked around the area as even if he had escaped he would have remained close by but we couldn’t find him anywhere.

“There was no evidence of him being around either. Pigs poo a lot and there was none of his droppings in the woods.”

Zac, who began working at the charity in 2019 to help support children’s mental and physical wellbeing, described thet the whole situation as “bizarre”.

He added: “It seems like someone might have picked him up from the back fence of the pen.

“The boar is about the size of a springer spaniel and although he isn’t light he’s easy enough to carry.

“Our livestock are very friendly as they have to be for the children. We found a bag of animal feed behind the pen so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone lured the boar over with food and picked him up.

“The spotty pigs sell for £80 to £100 so someone may have stolen the boar to sell or even to have themelves for easy meat.

“Our stolen boar will have an ear tag that reads KJ3420, although we know this can be removed please keep an eye out for him.”

Police confirmed they were made aware of the theft this morning.

A spokesman said: “Officers were called at 9.48am to a report of a pig being stolen from its enclosure in Elmley Road, Sheerness. Inquiries are ongoing.”

Anyone with information can report this online, quoting reference number 03-0328.