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Village scarecrow competition ruined by mysterious spate of beheadings

A scarecrow competition has been hit by a spate of sinister midnight beheadings - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency
A scarecrow competition has been hit by a spate of sinister midnight beheadings - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency

A picturesque village has been left reeling after its scarecrow competition was hit by a spate of sinister midnight beheadings.

A series of the straw figures have mysteriously disappeared overnight, while others have been decapitated.

The spree has upset villagers in the normally quiet village of Droxford, in Hampshire's pretty Meon Valley.

The Droxford Scarecrow Festival returned earlier this month for its third instalment, with nearly 100 scarecrows dotted around the village for the two-week display.

But this year it has become the setting for a series of mysterious attacks and abductions.

Perplexed villagers have been trying to work out who among them is responsible, with slamming car doors and screeching tyres heard after one decapitation.

Some of the straw figures in the competition - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency
Some of the straw figures in the competition - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency

The crimes began on the night of Sunday, September 18, when the first scarecrow went missing.

Following that incident, more than five of the scarecrows have also been decapitated. One resident's "Jim Carrey - The Mask" scarecrow was among the victims.

Richard Keohane, a cabinet maker from the village, was shocked when a scarecrow that he and 11-year-old daughter Ottilie had worked on together was abducted.

The pair had made a scene involving scarecrow punk band the Flax Pistols, before Sheena Ramone was kidnapped.

Mr Keohane, 44, said of the beheadings: "It's very upsetting.

"People spend a lot of time making these scarecrows - it's fun for everybody and it puts a smile on people's faces in the village.

"For people to come and wreak this kind of havoc is a real shame."

Some of the straw creations - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency
Some of the straw creations - Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News & Photo Agency

He added: "The scarecrows don't get seen outside my house so we put them outside my uncle's. He rang me after he heard a car door slam, the tyres screech and a car zoom away."

Following Sheena's abduction, Mr Keohane made a new scarecrow - DI Gummidge - to investigate the remaining suspects at the scene of the crime.

The father of two said: "Some people really go to town and make their own faces and some people use a rubbery type mask which is more expensive."

"I spent about £70 all together on the six scarecrows I made. I get all the clothes from charity shops - Sheena was wearing a nice leather jacket so maybe somebody wanted that."

Scarecrows of Freddy Krueger and even Paddington bear have had their masks torn off or their heads chopped off entirely.

He continued: "A couple of others have been attacked and vandalised. We don't know who it is. Maybe it's a bunch of 17-year-olds doing the kind of things that some 17 year olds do?"