A group of 15 people that broke into an animal farm in Iduranpitiya, Balangoda had tied the guard of the farm to a tree before stealing 55 pigs in the early hours of February 14, the Balangoda Police said.

The owner of the pigpen has told the police that the value of the stolen pigs is more than Rs.1.5 million and that piglets were also among the stolen pigs.

The farm guard had been living with his wife and four-year-old child in a room on the farm.The guard told the police that someone knocked on the door at around 12.30 in the morning and when the door was opened, a group of people were standing near the door.

He told the police that they left his wife inside the house and locked the door, tied him to a teak tree and loaded the pigs into a lorry.

The guard said a cab vehicle also entered the farm and they opened the door of the room before fleeing.After the robbers had left the farm, the guard’s wife came out and untied his hands and then they informed the owner about the incident.

According to the guard, this robbery has been carried out in a short period of one and a half hours.

Police suspect that the robbers know the farm well.