The last time Mick Marshall can recall a crime happening in Hatley, John Major was still the prime minister. “We got broken into in 1996 and that’s it. That was a long time ago,” he said.

The 81-year-old runs the Hatley Shop and Post Office with his wife, a quaint little shop shrouded in green shrubbery. The Cambridgeshire village, which is hidden up a long country road lined with small farms, is so quiet that some days Marshall serves nary a soul. “Sometimes we don’t have any customers, sometimes it’s two or three,” he said.

In recent days however, the village has been far from quiet. On Monday, a police officer came into the shop and asked Marshall for CCTV footage from over the weekend. “I don’t know if they found anything yet. It’s still a mystery,” he said.

The mystery in question involves four alpacas and two sheep. Sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, five of the animals were shot dead in a paddock on a field nearby. The killings have stoked alarm locally and across the country.

“It’s horrific, isn’t it? Those poor animals. I don’t know what to say really,” said Marshall “Why would someone do that? I don’t know.”

The attacks come amid a rise in violence against animals. Last year, the RSPCA published a report showing a 23% increase in attacks on animals using weapons, including air guns, slingshots, catapults or crossbows. The charity called this incident “deeply shocking”.

The alpacas’ owner, Dawn French, 58, heard the news on Sunday morning. “Our farmhand called and said you need to get to the field now. We were faced with the scene of three of our alpacas dead at the end of the field,” she said.

French said the fourth alpaca was found past the field by a ditch. French also owns a pair of sheep. One was shot dead and the other was found hiding in a hedge. “She had obviously been mauled by a dog. She unfortunately didn’t make it, she had to be put to sleep,” she said. “It was just hideous. It was obviously a horrific experience for them all.”

She is just as mystified as everyone else about why her beloved alpacas, Calvin, Klein, Juniper and Martha were shot dead. “It’s a really peaceful area. We’ve never had any trouble here.

“Police are trying to find a motive. They asked have we made any enemies of people? Of course we said no.”

According to French, one rural crime officer said he had never heard of anything like this in his 15 years on the job. “It’s a horrific incident and it is unusual,” she said.

The owners of the field, who did not want to be named, told the Guardian they were “shocked and horrified” about the killings and that the village was confounded by them.

They said they slept through the night when the animals were attacked and only realised the horrific scene on Sunday morning.

“It looked like they had been chased,” said one of the owner’s. “They had escaped their pen and were found scattered around the field.”

French has owned alpacas for 20 years. “We’ve had deaths as they’ve got older and others that have been stillborn but never anything like this.”

Two of the alpacas survived the attack, Frankie, who was unscathed, and Phoebe, who is wounded. “The vet is looking at her at the moment. She was patched up in the field and she’s on strong painkillers and anti-inflammatories but her wound has definitely got some pus in it.”

For French, the scene she laid eyes on will be hard to forget. “Personally I don’t know if I could actually walk back in that field and unsee what I’ve seen. It’s a bit like PTSD,” she said.

The alpaca community has come together in support of French. “I’ve had thousands of messages from people all across the country,” she said. “Somebody said that they’re retiring and they’ve got a few alpacas that they’re getting rid of.

“She said I’ll give you one of our alpacas to make a pack of three. That’s how caring and loving the alpaca community is. If Phoebe pulls through, I’d probably take her up on the offer.”

The targeting of alpacas in particular has confused French. “They’re beautiful animals. They’re so cute and innocent. They’ve got these lovely eyes. Got big eyelashes. How can anyone harm them?” she said.