Dead cat tied to pole outside New Forest church
Grim discovery follows similar incidents in village
Last updated 16th Dec 2022
A dead cat has been found tied to a church flagpole in a New Forest village.
Police say the animal was found at St Peter's Church in Bramshaw on Monday morning (12 Dec 2022).
The discovery comes after a dead fox was also found on the church door step about two weeks earlier.
The Reverend David Bacon has said it's left his parishioners feeling unsettled.
The church has been targeted before. Satanic symbols were painted on it in November 2019. Other similar 'occult' style incidents, including attacks on sheep and cows, and a cross made of hay, were also reported at nearby locations in the last couple of years.
Reverend Bacon said it was unclear whether they were linked to previous animal deaths from nearly three years ago.
In January 2020, police investigated three sheep deaths as well as the killing of a ewe which had been stabbed to death with a cross made of hay and a broken pitchfork placed next to it in Kewlake Lane, Cadnam.
A sheep and two cows were attacked and Satanic symbols painted on the church door at St Peter's in 2019.
A 41-year-old man from Winchester was subsequently arrested on suspicion of six counts of criminal damage in relation to these incidents, but was later released while police investigations continued.
Rev Bacon said:
"A fox was found on the church doorstep a couple of weeks ago and then a cat was found hanging from the flagpole."
"I can't see that it's anything against the church as a local thing, as far as we know we don't have any enemies."
"I don't know what they're having ago. The difference with the sheep two years ago is that it was very obviously someone who had Googled it and knew what they were doing, it was like a professional job really."
"Whereas this, there was no symbolism, no nothing, so this one is a mystery really."
He added: "It is unsettling, it's pretty traumatic for the poor people that found it and people are unsettled, because it's just so random, it's not part of a pattern, it's not what you want to happen."
He added:
"We are all guarding our cats very carefully."
A Hampshire police spokesman said:
"We can confirm that we have received a report from a member of the public regarding a suspicious incident at St Peter's Church on Judds Hill. It is reported that around 7am on December 12, a deceased cat was found tied to a church flagpole."
"This follows a similar report of a dead fox being located on the church door step recently too."
"Our inquiries into these incidents are ongoing to establish the exact circumstances."