The notorious animal killer terrorising Britain’s pets has been blamed for mutilating a Harpenden bunny.

Someone climbed into a family garden under the cover of darkness, smashed their pet’s wooden hutch, and dismembered lionhead rabbit Teddy.

Teddy’s grim remains were discovered by his owners the next morning by their young daughter’s pink Wendy house.

It was initially believed to be a fox attack until the vets confirmed the injuries were too clean to be anything other than man-made.

The owners wished to remain anonymous: “Teddy was one of a kind, a truly special rabbit. The nature of the attack on him is very distressing and feels very personal - that someone, somehow, climbed into our high-walled garden, killed and mutilated him and left him next to my daughter’s little pink Wendy house for us to find, is beyond comprehension.

“This is not down to a killer or killers based in Croydon - or even the M25. Our nearest motorway is the M1 and attacks have taken place all over the country. Everybody in the UK needs to be on high alert to protect their pets.”

As the family live in Harpenden, they thought Teddy was safe. The mother said she was “so very sad” to be wrong.

The savage attack on Teddy, which took place between 6pm on October 30 and 9.30am on October 31, has been attributed to the M25 Animal Killer - formerly known as the Croydon Cat Killer.

Similar deaths of more than 350 cats, 40 foxes, and some rabbits have been recorded by South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL), who pushed for a police investigation into the mutilations.

The resulting Operation Takahe was launched in 2015 to track down the killer - who targets small animals by killing them with brute force, before cutting off heads, tails, heads and tails, front paws, or back legs, and displays the body parts where they will be found.

Co-founder of SNARL, Tony Jenkins, said it is a horrible situation for the owners: “We will continuing working with the police and other agencies and eventually he will slip up and we will get him.

“Eventually we will catch him - if it turns out to be more than one person then it’s like Pokémon GO - we have to catch them all.”

A spokesperson from Herts police asked anyone with information to call 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.