A vicar has been left fearing for his church after a spree of dead animal attacks.

A congregant at St Peter’s Church in Bramshaw found a dead cat hanging from the church flagpole when she arrived to clean the church ahead of Christmas.

Just weeks ago, a dead fox was left on the doorstep.

The incidents come three years after suspected Satanists carried out a string of offences in the area; in 2019 they covered the church in occult-related graffiti, including the number 666.

They also stabbed sheep and a cow, with a number of the victims painted with the same markings.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary had to call in police officers from the Police Pagan Association, a support group for pagan police officers formed in 2009.

The founder of the association, Sergeant Andy Pardy, said that the historic attacks were more likely to have been carried out by young people messing around, instead of genuine Satanic groups.

Rev David Bacon told The Times: “Every so often we get things like this happening. It makes everybody feel very uncomfortable.

“I can’t say definitively if the [latest events are] linked to the sheep killings from a few years ago. We have no idea what motivated this.

“Are they just angry at life in general, or against the church, or is it linked to witchcraft? I can’t say.”

He said the new attacks feel “a lot less organised” than the “sinister” incidents of the past.