A man has been charged with stealing $27,000 worth of Angus cattle from a farm in northern NSW, removing their tags and then selling them on.
The 60-year-old allegedly stole the 27 head of cattle from a property in Gravesend in August this year.
The cattle, with an estimated value of $1000 a head, were taken from the property over two separate days, police allege.
The animal’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tags were removed before they were all sold to a third party, who police said bought them in good faith.
The man from Warialda, in the state’s north, has been charged with stealing the cattle, removing approved identifiers from the stock and selling identifiable stock not identified.
The cattle have been recovered and will be returned to the owners, police said.
They are warning people to not buy stock without their NLIS identification tags attached and to contact police if they suspect stock theft.
The man is due to appear at Moree Local Court on January 24.
