The police have appealed for information about five donkeys stolen from a field in County Down.

They were taken from the Old Course Road in Downpatrick some time between Thursday evening and 1000 BST on Friday.

One of the donkeys is a four months old and there is concern for its welfare as its mother was left behind with the rest of the herd.

This is a despicable act made worse by the fact that one of the animals is only seven days old

Stephen Philpott USPCA

The donkeys are worth about �2,000. Four of them won prizes at last month's Castlewellan agricultural fair.

A police officer said: "The one-week-old won't survive if it isn't reunited with its mother."

Police Inspector Gary Gibson said the donkeys' owner was very upset.

Owner Alan Croskery said the loss was devastating.

"You just feel that you have been robbed of one of your children," he said.

"The mother of one of the foals was left behind and that foal will not survive without its mother."

Alan Croskery: "Loss is devastating"

The donkeys were rounded up when thieves blocked gates and raided a shed.

Officers found the mother wandering alone by a roadside on Friday.

Stephen Philpott, chief executive of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said: "This is a despicable act made worse by the fact that one of the animals is only seven days old.

"These animals cannot have disappeared into thin air, someone knows where they are and I would appeal to anyone with helpful information to pass this on to the authorities as a matter of urgency."