Sheep and cows have been attacked and stabbed to death and sprayed with satanic symbols in the New Forest.
The dead animals were found over a five-day period in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire.
Police said they had received reports of a cow being injured, while a church was daubed in Satanic graffiti, with the numbers 666 sprayed on a door.
The "unusual" incidents took place in the village of Bramshaw and Linwood.
The Reverend David Bacon of St Peter's Church in the village said the killings could be part of "witchcraft" or "black magic" in the area.
An inverted cross and the numbers 666 were daubed on the church's door, he said.
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"The attacks on the animals have left people quite disturbed and scared," he said. "Particularly people who have animals in the forest."
"I've been told one of the symbols was a 66 which of course is a biblical sign of the devil, or Satan, so it could have [sinister overtones]."
"I've been here 15 years and seen a lot of stuff, but nothing like this. It could just be kids, but I don't think it is, given the context."
He said there had been witchcraft in the area for hundreds of years and "this has obviously gone up a level."
Sergeant Andy Williams, of Hampshire Police's Country Watch team, is investigating to see if the incidents are linked.
He urged anyone who uses the New Forest to remain "vigilant" and report anything that's suspicious to police.
In the first incident, a dead ewe which had suffered a puncture wound to its side was found in Penn Common Road, Bramshaw, on November 19.
A local resident, who does not wish to be named, found the sheep with a pentagram painted on its side, a star on its face as well as an inverted cross and the number 666.
She said: "It's sickening, I was genuinely shocked to find something like that in the forest, I couldn't believe it.
"Why would somebody do this to a sheep, the poor thing. There are some strange people around."
A Hampshire Police spokesman said that a heifer and two calves have also been found with wounds in the Bramshaw and Linwood areas.
Tony Hockley, chairman of the Commoners Defence Association (CDA) which represents those who keep animals in the New Forest, said: "Any harm to Commoners' animals is a huge concern.
"Commoning in the New Forest is a voluntary activity and many do it around our day jobs so any attack on any animal is a huge deterrent to continuing allowing animals to graze in the New Forest so anything like this is extremely worrying for the future of the New Forest."
Mr Hockley said he was not aware of a history of occult incidents in the area but added: "The New Forest, like many rural areas, has a historical association with witchcraft so that draws some people and some of the local shops trade on that but it's normally more about fairies."
