Jeremy Clarkson has spent years dealing with stubborn animals, bad weather and farming experiments at Diddly Squat. This time, 11 sheep appear to have vanished for a considerably less amusing reason.
The Clarkson’s Farm star said he and Kaleb Cooper discovered that only 16 of 27 EasyCare sheep remained in a remote field on his Oxfordshire property. Thames Valley Police is investigating the livestock theft, according to The Sun’s report on the incident.
Clarkson said the missing animals were worth more than £2,000 based on recent market prices and had been retained as breeding stock. He is also concerned that additional sheep may be missing from another field about a mile away that contains roughly 140 animals.
His message to whoever took them was considerably shorter: “Put them back.” Thames Valley Police said the theft occurred sometime during the previous 10 days, was unwitnessed and had resulted in no arrests as of Sept. 4.
Eleven EasyCare Sheep Were Missing From a Remote Field
Clarkson and Cooper discovered the shortfall when they finally carried out a full count of the flock. Clarkson said they searched the nearby woodland and neighboring land but found no carcasses, sheep droppings or other indication that the missing animals had simply wandered away.
The field is in a secluded section of the roughly 1,000-acre Diddly Squat property and has woodland around much of it. Clarkson said he had driven past several days earlier and noticed that a gate was open, although he did not realize at the time that sheep might be missing.
The Press Association report carried by AOL says Cooper and land manager Charlie Ireland raised the matter with Thames Valley Police. Officers from the Rural Crime Team attended the farm, and a police drone was also used to search nearby woodland without locating the animals.
The Missing Sheep Were Part of Clarkson’s EasyCare Experiment
The missing animals are particularly recognizable to viewers because EasyCare sheep became one of Clarkson’s major new projects during season five. After years of discovering how much work conventional sheep could create, he brought in the wool-shedding breed as part of an effort to make life at Diddly Squat less labor-intensive.
EasyCares naturally shed their fleece rather than requiring conventional shearing, and Clarkson has praised how independently they handle lambing. Prime Video’s official description for the season-five premiere specifically centers part of the episode on Clarkson trying a new breed of sheep as he looks for ways to make the farm less stressful.
The experiment worked well enough to change Cooper’s mind. Before season five premiered, Clarkson said Cooper had initially been furious about the purchase and spent weeks insisting it was a mistake. Cooper subsequently bought 30 EasyCares of his own after seeing how the breed performed.
Clarkson Thinks Whoever Took Them Chose Their Moment
Clarkson cannot identify exactly when the sheep disappeared. Because filming frequently puts crews and drones around Diddly Squat, he suspects whoever removed the animals did so at night or during a period when production was not operating in that part of the farm.
He does not necessarily believe the television show’s fame explains why the flock was targeted. Clarkson acknowledged that being well known could make Diddly Squat more visible, but his larger concern is practical, a 1,000-acre farm contains remote stretches where somebody could potentially move around without being noticed.
The incident comes amid a broader increase in livestock theft. The NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report found that livestock-theft claims rose by nearly 30% in 2025, reaching an estimated £4.5 million across the United Kingdom. NFU Mutual said livestock theft has become increasingly organized, even as the overall estimated cost of rural crime fell during the year.
Sheep Have Been Giving Clarkson Trouble Since the Beginning
The suspected theft adds a darker chapter to what has usually been a comic running battle between Clarkson and sheep. From the first season of Clarkson’s Farm, he has struggled through lambing, flock movements and animals that frequently seemed uninterested in cooperating with his plans.
The EasyCares were supposed to make that relationship easier. Clarkson said their ability to lamb with relatively little intervention was a major improvement over his earlier flock, even though their strength and reluctance to be rounded up created problems of their own.
This time, however, Clarkson sees little humor in the disappearance. He said having ordinary property stolen is upsetting enough, but losing animals felt particularly “galling”.