AN AYRSHIRE dog rescue team are appealing to the public after a piece of their equipment was tampered with which could potentially hinder an ongoing search.

Ayrshire Drone Dog Rescue (ADDR) operate right across the county with their team of volunteers working tirelessly to search, rescue and trap lost dogs and reunite them with their owners.

One of the current searches being conducted by ADDR has taken them to the Bourtreehill area of Irvine. Here, the team had laid out traps and cameras in an effort to rescue and escaped Chihuahua.

However, as a statement put on social media explained, their efforts were put in jeopardy.

An ADDR spokesperson said: "Sadly we have just had a group of children try to steal one of the cameras, which now means it needs to be removed as we can’t chance losing hundreds of pounds of equipment. It also means that this dog's safe area has been disturbed.

"There’s a poster up to show the trap is for a missing dog, and they were able to take the time to read it, then proceed to start to remove the camera.

"This really saddens us, as we have had volunteers out with drones and thermal equipment and we have been watching the cameras through the night.

"He (the dog) didn’t return last night after being chased and now we have no idea where he is and no equipment out.

"If you stay in this area please talk to your children and tell them how vital this equipment is to a dog's life.

"Even if you don’t stay in this area, please have this chat with your kids so that, should the day come that we have a trap in your area, it doesn’t put the safety of the dogs at risk."

The search of this missing dog remains ongoing at the time of writing (Wednesday April 24) and the ADDR team are asking all around the area to keep an eye out - but not to startle of chase the pet if seen.