A near-400 pound pet pig named Princess that wandered out of her pen was slaughtered by a neighbor while Northern California police looked for the animal's owner, according to local reports.

Princess went missing from her home in Humboldt County on March 23. She was later found nearby in someone's yard, as seen in photos shared by a lost and found animal Facebook page.

Arcata Police Department, which is used to responding to loose livestock calls in the area, SF Gate reports, came to help the Hampshire pig home. An officer asked a nearby neighbor if he could keep the pig while police searched for the owner, and the neighbor agreed. About an hour later, the officer returned to find the neighbor butchering the pig for meat.

"We were totally shocked and surprised to learn that the pig had been slaughtered,” Arcata Police Department's Chief Brian Ahearn said, Lost Coast Outpost reports.

Arcata Police Lt. Todd Dockweiler told SF Gate "given the stage of the butchering process he was in, he must have slaughtered the pig very shortly after the officer left."

Princess’s owner Carrie Hogan told the Outpost that Princess was a "very sweet" pig who liked to be around people. Hogan said her family raised the pig, who turned 1 in January.

Local police say it is a crime to butcher a pig that isn't yours, and the man responsible could face charges.

“The hardest part of this is knowing that there’s somebody out there that’s this kind of a savage,” Hogan told the Outpost.

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