White Suffolk-Merino lambs of similar appearance to these have been stolen from a Darlington farm. File shot.

VICTORIAN police are investigating the theft of crossbred lambs worth $60-70,000 from a property in the state’s west.

Detective senior constable David Hughson with Warrnambool Criminal Investigation Unit said the mixed sex 340 White Suffolk-Merino cross lambs were reported stolen from a property on the Carranballac-Darlington Rd near Darlington.

He said the lambs’ owner had advised the lambs were believed to have been stolen from the 240 hectare property about six weeks ago.

“They went to shear them the other day and just noticed they were missing – 340 of these lambs that were taken from three paddocks.”

The six month-old lambs were running with their mothers in a mob totalling about 1650 ewes and lambs and carried black electronic ear tags with the property identification code of 3GPPK047.

Detective senior constable Hughson said given the size of the mob and that the isolated property had only been tended to a few times week, the missing lambs were not noticed until a head count was done when the sheep were mustered for shearing and crutching.

He said it appears that a large truck or truck and dogs were used to remove the sheep, with loading conducted out of a laneway. A cut fenced was rejoined during the theft.

The owner of the lambs told Sheep Central some open gates on the property were noticed about six weeks ago. He said the ewes and lambs were in a cell-grazing set-up over three paddocks and the rest of the property was locked up to allow pasture regrowth.

He and his wife were first alerted when they noticed some gates were open and their son said he hadn’t opened them. He said it appeared the thieves had cut a fence to drop a loading race into a laneway that runs the length of the property and had loaded the lambs up with dogs.

“Away they’ve gone and then they’ve quite thoughtfully grippled the fence back together –they didn’t strain it, they just made it look good from a distance.”

People who noticed suspicious trucks or who might have dashcam footage around that time in the area can call Warrnambool Police on 55601333 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.