Students at a Melbourne primary school are devastated after their beloved pet chickens were beheaded.
The 10 chickens, which were rescued from a battery farm, were found by a neighbour at Holy Rosary Primary School in Kensington on Thursday morning.
Detective Senior Constable Scott Bilston said the dead chickens were scattered across the schoolyard in an "horrific scene".
"It appears someone has stepped down inside the chicken coop and it does look like there is a mark where chickens were being passed under the fence," Det Sen Const Bilston told reporters.
"It's sickening and disturbing."
Holy Rosary principal Amanda Smith said the children were in tears after hearing the news.
"Our students are clearly devastated this morning at the news of this senseless act and are trying to make sense of it with their teachers," Ms Smith said.
"They spent a lot of time both caring for them and playing with them during lunchtime and recess so it's going to leave a huge hole in our community."
Ms Smith said the chickens were rehabilitated after being rescued for the battery farm and the children entered them in local chicken shows.
Police are reviewing CCTV footage from businesses in the local area.
It is the second such attack this month, with a duck and three chickens beheaded at a Point Cook school on October 1.
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