55 sheep ‘stolen’ from land

POLICE believe 55 sheep have been stolen from crofters’ land on Lewis in the Western Isles.

The theft involves 32 ewes and 23 unborn lambs from Laxay common grazing, an area shared by crofters for raising livestock.

Police said extensive searches had been carried out, with no trace of the animals being found, suggesting they had been stolen.

The sheep have been described as a mix of Mules, Texel, Beltex crosses, black-faced and Oxford crosses.

They were marked with green spray between their shoulders, along with either blue, green, red or purple marks on their backs.