Alvington residents are furious after a tame deer they fed every day was killed by a poacher.
Deerdre, as the animal was called, took up home in one of the nearby fields during the winter and had since taken to living in an adjoining wood.
Resident Mavis Luff, who fed the animal every day, said she was horrified when she went up to give it some food only to find a man covered in blood who was dragging the dead deer toward his vehicle.
"I went up on March 24 and saw this man dragging something behind him in the wood," said Mavis.
"He was covered in blood; it was dripping off his hands.
"I shouted at him 'What have you done?'
"He told me that the deer was injured but my daughter had been up earlier the same day so I knew this wasn't true.
"It is terrible; no one can believe what he has done."
Other irate villagers said the killing was an outrage. Luke Sellers, 24, whose family home is near where the deer lives, said: "Everyone loved this animal – I suppose in the end it was too friendly for its own good."
Police have arrested a 44-year-old Alvington man on suspicion of poaching on Tuesday, March 29.
Officers searched the man's house and seized venison, a knife, snares, traps, antlers and numerous taxidermy items.
The arrest follows a report received on Thursday, March 24, of a man slitting a deer's throat and dragging it to his vehicle in woodland in Alvington.
The man has been bailed to attend Gloucester Police Station on May 31, pending further inquiries.