YOUNGSTERS at a Bungay school are devastated after a horrific attack left just a wing and a crushed head remaining of the pet chickens they had nurtured from eggs.

YOUNGSTERS at a Bungay school are devastated after a horrific attack left just a wing and a crushed head remaining of the pet chickens they had nurtured from eggs.

Children at St Edmund's Primary School had been rearing the chickens as part of their science and maths lessons and had monitored their development through to hatching and becoming fully grown birds.

But last Wednesday someone broke into the chicken coop in the school playground and stole three of the chickens and killed another.

All that remained the following morning was one wing and a head, which had been stamped on and imprinted onto the school's Astroturf.

Andrew Clark, headteacher at the school, in St Mary's Street, said that most children had thankfully missed the terrible sight, although a few that had come in earlier saw what had happened.

“They were very much a part of the children's life,” he said. “They were well loved. The children had rotas to feed and look after them.

“They were devastated at the time and it was very difficult to attribute any characteristics to any of the people who might have done this. It's not within theirs or most people's comprehension. Through classes and assemblies we've tried to make some sort of closure to it in whatever way possible.”

He said that the incident had given the children a life lesson in some of the horrible things that humans are capable of.

“They've had the chance to talk about human nature,” he said. “We talked about the possibility of what may have caused someone to do this. It's a valuable thing for them to do.

“Someone might have taken the chickens for the pot because they were hungry. Some people don't need to be unkind to humans or animals, but they are.”

Speaking at the Bungay Town Council meeting on Monday, PC Martin Skuse of Bungay police said the immediate thought was that a fox may have got in, however because the head of a chicken had been stamped it into the turf this had been disregarded.

He said the police were doing their best to find information on those responsible, and urged people to telephone them if they had any information.

“Obviously someone who has done it might have been encouraged by others,” he added. “It was a gruesome crime.”

The incident happened between 5pm on Wednesday, October 14 and 8am on Thursday, October 15. Telephone PC 443 Skuse on 01986 835300.