Tasmania Police is investigating the theft of 40 merino ewes from Greenhills property at Macquarie Road some time between June 27 and July 13.

It was last Thursday when property owner Patrick Taylor noticed 40 sheep were missing from his flock.

He said he couldn’t believe it when a re-count of the animals confirmed his suspicions.

“I have heard of it happening before, but I didn’t think it would happen on our property,” he said.

“Our place is surrounded by other properties and we are on quite a busy road, so it is a bit surprising that no one saw anything.’

The ewes, which were ear tagged but not ear marked, were pregnant and had eight months wool.

While there are about 1700 ewes on the property, Mr Taylor estimated the financial loss as “over $10,000 worth of income.”

He has taken the step of appealing for information on Facebook, sharing the tag number of the animals in a post on Monday morning.

The post had been shared more than 1500 times as of Tuesday afternoon, but Mr Taylor admitted his chances of seeing the animals again were slim.

“I haven’t heard anything yet and I don’t hold high hopes to be honest,” he said.

 Anyone with information should contact Longford Police on 131444 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.