LAKELAND, Fla. (WSVN) — A pair of bird bandits wreaked havoc in a Florida neighborhood, taking off with a pair of beloved feathered residents.
Residents at Highland Village Mobile Park in Lakeland are still reeling over the theft of two black swans and their eggs, Wednesday night.
Lynda Eddlemon, the trailer community’s property manager, lamented the hearltess crime.
“We have so much wildlife here,” she said.
Her neighbor’s backyard is truly a bird’s paradise.
“They come here, they know they feel safe, they get fed,” she said. “They’re like our kids. These are like our children, our babies.”
Eddlemon said the swans, whom residents named Sterling and Luna, lived in the mobile home park for years.
“It’s very heartbreaking that they are gone now,” she said.
A few years ago, a swan in Highland Village was killed by a bobcat, but Eddlemon never thought the birds would be hunted by humans.
Surveillance video captured two people with large nets and a bucket, just after 9 p.m, on Wednesday.
It took the duo around 30 minutes to grab Sterling and Luna and take off.
“You can hear a silence in the park. You can hear anger that they’re gone,” said Eddlemon. “It’s been devastating, especially to the caregiver.”
Detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office are looking for the swans and their eggs, as well as the thieves.
It’s a crime that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described as “cruel”‘
“Not only is the community hurt, it is also the animals here,” said Eddlemon.
Eddlemon and the rest of the Highland Village community are now hoping detectives catch the thieves and return the swans and their eggs to where they belong.
“They’re pretty rare, and I would just hope people out there are looking and paying attention, and if anybody saw anything, I would hope they would contact us,” said Judd.
The community is offering a reward for information , but as of Saturday night, the swans and their eggs have not been found.
If you have any information on this theft or the stolen swans’ whereabouts, call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 888-400-TIPS (8477). Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
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