The attempted theft took place in Aldenham Country Park on Saturday at around 9.10pm.
That's just across the fields from where I live. Beautiful countryside. However, I can't see far enough to act as a witness.
The man lifted the animal by it's legs from a pen and tried to carry the animal away. With no details about the size or weight of the sheep, I can only assume it was a lamb, because fully grown sheep are quite heavy.
Local officers are now appealing for witnesses to the crime to contact them in a bid to track down the would-be thief.
A few months ago, a member of parliament stated that rural areas are being ignored by police. He claimed it would lead to a rise in poaching, hare coursing and sheep-rustling.
According to the National Farmers Union, a quarter of rural crimes go unreported. Farmers consider going to the police wastes their time because offenses will be treated as little more than a minor misdemeanor.
A 66 year-old farmer and his 22-year-old shepherd were arrested after a flock of 55 pregnant ewes valued at up to £15,000 were stolen from a field in Lancashire during a night raid.
After being found more than 100 miles away five days later, officers visited with a specialist forensic unit which used DNA to link them back to sheep on the victim's farm.
After their sentences, both have been shunned by their rural communities.
Going even further back in time, I knew and loved several black sheep. My family lived a back-to-the-earth lifestyle in the 70s in a little coastal town in South Australia. I used the colored wool to spin, knit and weave. I've never eaten 'lamb' since.
But in the present economic climate, thieves are taking advantage of lack of policing to lift a tasty morsel. I wonder if the local man thought about how to get the animal ready for cooking.
If hunger threatened your family, would you consider stealing food?