There are fears modern-day Satanists are targeting animals in the New Forest after a spate of suspected attacks.

Police are investigating after a sheep was killed and sprayed with occult symbols, while several cows were also wounded in the woodland in Hampshire.

A church door was also sprayed with Satanic signs.

The dead ewe, which had a suffered a puncture wound to its side, was found in Bramshaw on 19 November with a pentagram painted on its side, a star on its face, along with an inverted cross and the number 666, which is linked to the devil.

In the same week, a heifer was discovered with a wound to its neck and two calves had injuries to their shoulders in the Bramshaw and Linwood areas.


Meanwhile on 20 November, the graffiti of an inverted cross and the number 666 was found on the door of St Peter's Church in Bramshaw.

A woman - who asked not to be named after finding the dead sheep - said the discovery was "sickening".

"I was genuinely shocked to find something like that in the forest, I couldn't believe it," she said.

"Why would somebody do this to a sheep, the poor thing. There are some strange people around."

Rev David Bacon, vicar of Bramshaw, said the attacks on the animals have left people "disturbed and scared".

Image: The dead ewe had pentagrams painted on it. Pic: Solent News

He added: "We have had very very minor incidents in the past, little bits of graffiti, it doesn't happen very often, nothing like this."

Tony Hockley, chairman of the Commoners Defence Association, which represents those who keep animals in the New Forest, said the area had a "historical association with witchcraft".

"Any harm to Commoners' animals is a huge concern," he said.

"Commoning in the New Forest is a voluntary activity and many do it around our day jobs so any attack on any animal is a huge deterrent to continuing allowing animals to graze in the New Forest so anything like this is extremely worrying for the future of the New Forest."

Mr Hockley said he was not aware of a history of occult incidents in the area but added: "The New Forest, like many rural areas, has a historical association with witchcraft so that draws some people and some of the local shops trade on that but it's normally more about fairies."

Sergeant Andy Williams, of Hampshire Police, said: "These incidents are unusual in the New Forest.

"We are looking at the circumstances of each one to see if they are linked, and to see how these animals came to be injured."