Jeremy Clarkson has said he is “p****s me off” after 11 sheep disappeared from his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire in what police believe was a theft carried out over a period of several days.
The television presenter discovered the missing animals while carrying out a headcount with Kaleb Cooper, his co-star on the Amazon Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm.
Of the 27 Easycare sheep believed to have been grazing in a remote field on the Chadlington estate, only 16 remained.
Thames Valley Police has opened an investigation into the disappearance and said officers from its Rural Crime Team had attended the farm.
A force spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police is investigating the theft of a number of sheep from a farm in Chadlington.
The theft was reported on Wednesday by Mr Cooper and the farm’s land manager, Charlie Ireland. Police believe the animals may have been taken at some point during the preceding 10 days.
Mr Clarkson, speaking to The Sun, had a direct message for those responsible.
“Put them back,” he said.
He added: “It’s a farm. We’re armed. Just so they know. It p****s me off. Honestly, it just p****s me off.”
The former Top Gear presenter estimated that the missing sheep could have fetched more than £2,000 at market. He suggested their value could rise to as much as £8,000 if they were slaughtered and sold for meat.
Mr Clarkson also said he feared other livestock may have been taken from elsewhere on his Cotswolds estate.
Mr Ireland said the apparent theft was particularly frustrating because the animals targeted were breeding stock rather than fat lambs ready for market.
He described the incident as “just frustrating.”
“To have animals stolen, it’s really galling,” Mr Clarkson said.
The presenter believes those responsible may have struck under cover of darkness or at a time when production crews were not present at the farm.
The sixth series of Clarkson’s Farm is currently being filmed, and Mr Clarkson suggested that the regular presence of production staff would normally make the property a less attractive target.
On filming days, he said, there is “a film crew here all the time” and “a drone in the air”.
Mr Clarkson acknowledged that the farm’s high public profile could make it vulnerable to unwanted attention, but suggested the animals may have been deliberately targeted because of the celebrity associated with Diddly Squat.
The theft is the latest security incident to affect the farm and its associated businesses.
In March last year, five men were captured on CCTV apparently surveying the site. In 2023, two people stole £80 worth of goods from the Diddly Squat farm shop.
Mr Clarkson’s pub, The Farmer’s Dog in nearby Burford, was also targeted by cyber criminals last September, losing £27,000.
Thames Valley Police said no arrests had been made in connection with the latest incident and appealed for anyone with information about the missing animals to come forward.
The case highlights the continuing problem of rural crime, where isolated farms and large areas of open land can make livestock particularly difficult to protect and stolen animals challenging to trace once they have been removed from a property.
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