Seven Goats Stolen From California's Norte Vista High School

Students at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, Calif. are in the first stage of grief after seven goats were stolen around 11 p.m. Sunday, The Press-Enterprise reports.

Riverside police Lt. Andy Flores told the paper authorities describe the suspected thief's vehicle as a tan or gold SUV with a short white horse trailer in tow.

Norte Vista High School students purchased and raised the goats as a part of their agricultural projects in their Future Farmers of American leadership program, and sought to make a profit when the animals were auctioned off at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival in February.

Student Kyra Lopez, 15, has a $300 loan to pay for one goat, Mr. Goatee, and told The Press-Enterprise that the animals are deeply missed.

"We really felt a bond with them," Lopez told the paper. "They were so cute."

In addition to this unusual school theft are reports of tuba stealing at one Los Angeles County high school. So far, the school reports five of the instruments have been stolen in this semester alone. According to the report, eight tubas were recently stolen from a high school nearby.

The Norte Vista High School goat theft also comes after two pregnant goats at another California high school were found mutilated in their cages in September.

Officials at Lindhurst High School in Olivhurst, Calif. found one of the animals, Angel, horribly disfigured in an outdoor pen. According to the report, her nose was so badly slashed that she struggled to breathe.

The Sunday prior, another goat, Brownie, was also attacked.