“From time to time we get reports of stolen cattle or calves, but I’ve been here 27 years and this is the first time I’ve seen this. It’s obviously an unusual case,” says Detective Tom O’Sullivan of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the detective, a farmer living a few miles outside of Columbia, the county seat, had two 3-year-old Bactrian camels stolen from his place on Monday, sometime between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

O’Sullivan says the farmer purchased the camels recently on Craigslist with the hope of “flipping them” for a profit at a later date.

“We’re following up on some leads,” says the detective, and looking at “who might have known [the camels] were there. They aren’t the most friendly animals. We believe whoever took them had some experience in handling them.”

O’Sullivan says it would seem that whoever stole the 9-foot-tall camels would have a hard time selling them. “We’re hoping this will be to our advantage,” he told Modern Farmer in a phone interview.

The farmer’s name is being withheld per agency policy since the farmer is a victim of a crime.

O’Sullivan says two Black Angus steers were also stolen from the farm that day.

So would this make the criminal, or criminals, camettle rustlers?