A teenage girl is being sought by police after reports that she killed a hedgehog in Littleport.

The claims were first made on a local Facebook page and now East Cambridgeshire Police has launched an investigation.

A police spokesman said: “We have received several reports from residents of Littleport that a hedgehog has sadly been deliberately killed in a shocking act of animal cruelty.”

Police say they are in contact with the RSPCA who are keen to identify the suspect.

The spokesman said: “Hedgehogs are covered by schedule 6 of the wildlife and countryside act (1981).”

The partner of one woman who posted details of the incident to Facebook said that he was shocked and distressed when he came home and told her what he had seen.

The incident is thought to have happened on Thursday evening at around 11pm.

“She was repeatedly asked not to do it,” said the Facebook poster.

The post says the offender rode off on a bicycle with a young male.

There was also speculation that the killing may have been filmed on a mobile phone.