People living in one Coconut Grove neighborhood are on the hunt for a thief – a thief who is taking something very important to them. Peacocks.
"They're part of the neighborhood and I treat them as my pets. I go outside and feed them – the little babies eat from my hand. It's fun to have them here," Patrick Moghari said.
His mom said the giant birds make the area unique and they're something most people look forward to seeing every day.
"It's so cool. We even have tour buses stopping three or four times a day and they stop here at this intersection and go around the neighborhood, so the tourists can take pictures of them," Cathy Moghari said, referring to where Crystal Court and Natoma Street meet.
But in the last few days, 50 peacocks have turned to about 15.
"Someone has seen a van in the mornings waiting in front of people's houses ... and the peacocks are gone. These animals can sell for ... I don't even want to say it. They can sell for $500 each," neighbor Sylvia Cherry said.
Click here to read about a military training exercise that woke up Coconut Grove residents.
Local
So why are these peacocks disappearing? The neighbors think they're either being sold for money or people just find them annoying.
"People say they poop," Cherry said. "Everything poops, so if we were to remove every animal that pooped from Coconut Grove – it wouldn't be very good."
They want whoever is responsible to stop kidnapping the animals.
"I don't know what the neighborhood would be like without them," Patrick said.
