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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police are investigating after a Northland farmer reported that one of his cows had been found dead and mutilated, apparently by someone who a veterinarian says knew what they were doing.

According to Kansas City Missouri Police, officers responded to a call on Thursday morning to a farm near 120th and Brightwell in rural Platte County, just west of KCI. There, officers said that they found the cow, which had its sexual organs and udder removed.

Click here to see a picture of the mutilated cow (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE)

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The cow's owner, Casey Hamilton, told police that the cow had been ill, and had been moved to another pasture away from the rest of his herd. According to the police report, the cow was alive and recovering when it was last checked on Wednesday night, but was found dead the following morning.

A veterinarian examined the cow, and determined that it's vagina and udder had been removed. According to the police report, the vet told officers that it was a precise cut and whoever did it "knew what they were doing." He also stated that the cow was alive when the parts were removed.

"I couldn't believe it happened so close to home," said rancher Gordon Phillip, a friend of Hamilton's and one of three ranchers in the area. The ranchers lease the land from KCI - the cattle herds keep tall grass down, which in turn helps keep deer off the airport's runway.

""It's amazing, like how the vet said, if he had done a massive masectomy like that on a cow there would be blood all over the field, but there was no blood," said Phillip.

Police say that when the cow was discovered on Thursday morning, the gate was still locked and there were no footprints or tire tracks leading to the dead cow.

"It's somewhat amazing because the lack of evidence," said Phillip, who says that he discovered one of his own cows mutilated 30 years ago. When he asked his vet for an explanation, Phillip says that he just looked towards the sky.

"He was just amazed when I showed him this cow 30 years ago, he went around and around looking for where a space machine had landed to see if he could find any burn marks in the pasture," said Phillip.

The cow's exact cause of death has not been determined, but the vet told police that the cow did not die from the mutilation. The lack of evidence is leading to a conundrum for investigators and ranchers alike.

"(It's) just amazing how whoever does this terrible thing to animals seems to know what they are doing," said Phillip.