Three platypuses have been deliberately killed in the past five weeks in a "despicable act of cruelty" in the NSW-Victorian border town of Albury.
The dead native animals were found by workers at the town's Botanic Gardens, a Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service spokeswoman told AAP on Tuesday.
"It's a bit of a mystery at this stage," she said on Tuesday.
"They're (platypuses) quite elusive and they're also incredibly hard to catch, so we're really nonplussed about how anyone could have even captured them to begin with let alone harm them."
WIRES Murray River secretary Hazel Cook told The Border Mail two of the platypuses were found decapitated, "with a sharp object appearing to have been used".
"You could see were (sic) it was cut, where the spine was cut," she said.
"You can actually see where they've tried to cut into the vertebrae."
National Parks and Wildlife Service is investigating the incidents and is appealing for information.
"These animals appear to have been deliberately killed in a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia's most loved animals," it said in a statement.
It's believed the platypuses were dumped in the Gardens because they're not normally found in the waters there, a spokeswoman said..
Harming native animals is an office under the National Parks and Wildlife Act and carries penalties including an $11,000 fine and six-months imprisonment.
