Students at a primary school in Darwin's northern suburbs have been left distraught after a flock of beloved chickens owned by the school was slaughtered in what they say was a senseless act of violence.
Northern Territory police have confirmed they are investigating the Saturday night incident as an unlawful entry and are urging anyone with information to get in touch.
Teachers from Jingili Primary School were called to the school on Sunday morning after a caretaker discovered the 10 dead birds, the majority of the school's beloved flock of about a dozen.
Assistant teacher Jodi Rose said she had been sickened by the scene that confronted them.
"There [were] a lot of dead birds in the pen in every area in every direction and we couldn't really talk to each other," she said.
"There [were] tears and sickness."
Of the surviving birds, one is missing and the other underwent surgery on Monday, according to spokeswoman from the Northern Territory's Education Department.
School staff believe the perpetrators used boltcutters to make their way into the pen at some time on Saturday night.
"This was an act of violence against the chickens, really. There wasn't anything else damaged," teacher Jodie Peters said.
'This really hurt some people'
The chickens were part of a long-running program at the school that teaches children to grow, produce and nurture animals.
Students were distraught on returning to school on Monday.
"It makes most of us feel unsafe knowing someone's broken into our school," year 6 student Matthew said.
"It's not nice knowing we had all these chickens helping out with our program and now they're not going to be here to help out."
"I think this really hurt some people," his classmate, Emily, said.
Police have attended the scene and seized some items as their investigation continues.
