MORE than £160,000 worth of wildlife paintings have been stolen during a raid on Marwell zoo.

Police are investigating after the works of art, which include work by renowned artist Pip McGarry, were taken.

Burglars broke in to the gift shop of the Owslebury zoo between 6pm on Thursday, December 8 and 8.30am on Friday, December 9.

One of the 10 paintings, titled Young Snow Leopard, is worth £34,000.

Detective Constable Alex Hall said: “I am appealing for anyone who knows the whereabouts of these valuable works of art to contact me.

“These paintings represent a considerable amount of work for the artist who is devastated by their loss.

“Additionally the sale of these paintings would have benefited the zoo as a proportion of any sale is donated to them”.

Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to contact DC Hall in the Northern Investigation Team on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.