Police were called to a hobby farm near Wainwright on Aug. 26, after the owner found one of her lambs with a bullet wound in its leg.

It’s believed someone trespassed onto the pasture, about two kilometres west of Wainwright along Highway 14, sometime between the morning of Aug. 23, and noon on Aug. 24.

That’s when Sandra Creech got home from work and realized something was wrong with her flock of about 25 lambs.

While checking the rest of the property, the family discovered the remains of a second lamb that appeared to have been butchered behind an old shed in a grove of trees.

Creech suspects the baby animal was killed for its meat.

“They knew we had animals, of course. I think they were staking out the property — it’s not very hard when we are right on the highway,” she said.

While RCMP investigate, the family is stepping up security.

Quinn Ohler has more in the video above.