The bodies of three lambs have been found stuffed into plastic bags.
The grim discovery, believed to the remains of animals who had died naturally, was made on the shoreline of Macduff on Thursday afternoon.
Last night, police confirmed they were aware of the find on Tarlair Road.
“We can confirm that officers received a report of three dead lambs being found on Thursday,” a spokeswoman for the force said.
“Officers are looking into the matter. If anyone has any information about how the animals came to be there, they are asked to contact police.”
The dead lambs were understood to be rotting by the time waste officers from the local authority removed them from the scene.
The act was branded “disgusting” by local councillor Mark Findlater.
He said: “This happened last year in the same place, so the police are looking into it.
“I actually spoke to some farmers last night and they are just as disgusted as the community is over this. They are hopeful that the perpetrators are found and are punished for this. It’s disgraceful.
“These corpses have been thrown in a public area and there’s a risk that disease can spread because of it.
“I don’t know why they have done it, but I can guess. It’s coming to the end of the lambing season and dead animals have to be taken away to be disposed of, and there’s a charge for that. It’s just a disgusting thing to do.”
Lesley Crockett, a senior inspector for the Scottish SPCA, said: “It appears this is a case of someone disposing of the carcasses inappropriately, rather than a case of animal cruelty.
“The lambs have no ear tags, so it has not been possible to trace the owner as of yet.”