AN INTREPID donkey less than 3ft tall made a break for freedom after its pen in an Aberdeen park was targeted by vandals.
Mason, a Mediterranean miniature donkey, was later found wandering down a busy city street after taxi drivers alerted the police.
The eight-year-old, which has been a resident at Hazlehead Park’s pets corner for six-and-a-half years, escaped after vandals forced open the gate to its pen.
Two miniature Shetland ponies — Amber and Hector — also fled in the incident on Friday night.
Police were initially alerted at 10pm after reports of vandalism in the park which also saw a window smashed in the restaurant.
Mason was missing for four hours before being seen in nearby Queen’s Road.
Amber and Hector were found still inside the park’s boundaries on Saturday morning.
Police initially contacted a member of Aberdeen City Council’s out-of-hours team who then contacted Graham Lennox, countryside facilities manager with the local authority.
Mr Lennox, who is in charge of pets corner and Doonies Farm, joined the hunt for the missing animals and last night spoke of his concern.
“All the animals at pets corner are very popular with visitors and we were quite rightly con- cerned for their wellbeing,” he said.
“We’re just glad that we got them all back safe and there appears to be no calling cards out on the street.”
Mason, Amber and Hector were later reunited with their fellow miniature donkey friends Lottie, eight, and two-year-old Harvey.
Constable Emily Hesp of Grampian Police said: “We are following a positive line of inquiry with regard to this matter, but I would appeal to anyone who has information to make themselves known or contact the police.”
Anyone with information has been urged to call police on 0845 6005700, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.