As temperatures drop, the hunt for three missing tortoises, together worth £1,000, has become a matter of life and death.
The tortoises were believed to have been stolen in separate incidents in Ewshot and North Warnborough.
Fears for their safety are growing as the reptiles, two of which are endangered Hermann’s tortoises, are unlikely to survive outdoors in the winter.
Two of them were stolen from a home in Ewshot Lane. They are worth £400 and were given to 10-year-old Annabel Brown on her seventh birthday.
One was stolen on Saturday August 28 from a pen in the garden. The family believe the thief returned to steal the remaining tortoise just over a week later, on Sunday September 5.
The third tortoise went missing the next day from a locked cage at an address in New Road, North Warnborough.
Worth around £600, the 50-year-old tortoise has a shell as big as a dinner plate.
Police want to hear from anyone who has been offered a pet tortoise to buy recently or knows someone who has just come into possession of one.
PC Derek Morrow of the Hook Safer Neighbourhoods Team said: “Without the appropriate diet and care, it is unlikely that these tortoises will survive, especially in the approach to winter.”
John Hayward from the National Theft Register for Exotic Animals has advised owners of tortoises or other exotic pets to think about security measures, such as micro-chipping.
Tortoise shells can also be post coded using a UV marker pen.
Anyone with information about the thefts should call PC Morrow at Hart Neighbourhood Centre on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
