A MASTER thief being hunted by police for sealing valuable Koi carp has been unmasked – as an otter.
The Koi had been taken from a pond in The Heck, Lockerbie over the course of almost a month.
Distraught at losing fish worth £2000, the owner called in the police.
A wildlife Crime officer said the culprit was probably an otter Photo:Catherine Trigg
Officers in Dumfries and Galloway launched an appeal to catch the dastardly fiend behind the fishy theft.
But they were left red faced when a wildlife crime officer said the culprit was an animal.
A spokesman for the force said: “After careful examination of the scene by a Wildlife Crime Officer, of the theft at The Heck, Lockerbie, it now transpires that the 40 Koi carp fish which were thought to have been stolen, have been taken by an animal, and probably an otter. As such no crime has been committed.”
