A peacock has been "horribly tortured and killed" following a break-in to a Scots aviary, prompting a police probe.
The bird, known as Malcolm, was found dead at Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline on Monday night.
Suzi Ross, who works at the park, confirmed the sad news of Malcolm's passing on Facebook.
She also added that a second peacock, Louis, was found outside the root had been badly hurt but was still alive.
Suzi wrote: "It is with a broken heart that I have to send you all extremely bad news.
"At 11pm [on Monday] night, I received a phone call telling me that one of the birds was hurt.
"I chased up to the aviary, to find, that the aviary had been broken into. We found Louis in the outside roost. He had been badly hurt.
"The next few hours will be a testing time to get him through it. But we are hopeful.
"Malcolm was horribly tortured and killed. RIP my beautiful blue angel. I will miss you so so much."
Organiser Melanie Sorbie wrote: "Let’s help protect our precious Dunfermline peacocks and show our love!"
Cops have launched an investigation into the killing and are following a positive line of enquiry.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 11.50pm on Monday, 30 May, 2022, we received a report of animal cruelty following the death of a peacock within Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline.
"A second peacock was also injured during the incident.
"Officers are following a positive line of enquiry."
A GoFundMe page which was set up to help with the damage and vet fees has also smashed the £3,000 target within 12 hours.
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