MALACCA: Confidential military documents in Terendak Camp here were stolen in a “robbery” – by monkeys.

The marauding “thieves” waylaid a postman who was on his routine rounds at the garrison camp and grabbed the documents from him. In a matter of seconds, the animals were on top of trees and a building roof.

The troop of long-tailed macaques also left the 33-year-old postman injured. Police now face a tough task in tracking down the “thieves” after a report was lodged at the Sungai Udang police station yesterday.

It is learnt that the three stolen documents were considered important and the postman had detailed the serial number of the documents in his report.

The brazen attack happened two days ago.

Malacca National Park and Wildlife Department’s director Noorzakiahanum Mohd Noh described the primates at the army camps as a “bit mischievous” and said they were bold and aggressive.

“There have been previous cases of attacks at the army camp, school and even the mosque inside the camp,” she said when contacted.

Noorzakiahanum said game rangers have placed traps at the camp and avoided using any weapons.

“We have to lay traps as the army camp is a sensitive area and we have to be additionally careful when using arms inside,” said Noorzakiahanum.

She said the monkey menace has been there for a while.

Malacca has seen such bizarre macaque attacks before. The most daring one was at the Terendak Camp hospital 18 months ago when they broke into a soldier’s car and stole all his belongings including his scuba diving gear, driving licences, ATM cards and cash.