Image: www.belfasttelegraph.co.ukStone the crows: Mourners at Conwal Graveyard initially thought thieves were stealing the stones... how wrong they were.
After locals in Letterkenny Co. Donegal noticed something was stealing a number of decorative stones from graves in the Conwal Graveyard, the finger was naturally pointed at human thieves.
However, their accusations were proved to be wildly wrong, after it was discovered that crows were in fact stealing the decorative stones - which cost €50 a bag.
After a number of complaints from distressed family members, local man Tommy Harkin decided to get to the bottom of the mystery thefts.
So he set about installing a secret hidden camera to catch the perpetrators in the act, and he was shocked at what found.
The video captured the crafty crows picking up the stones one-by-one and swallowing them whole.
''I know this is causing a lot of heartache to families,'' Tommy told the Irish Daily Mirror.
''Perhaps people should consider putting netting over the graves, as the stones cost €50 a bag.''
Also speaking to the Mirror, Bird watch Ireland's Niall Hatch said: ''It's unusual they would take so many of the same stones from the same graves, but they are probably a particular type.''
''Birds don't have teeth so they swallow stones and they are stored in an organ called a gizzard.''
''They eventually spit the stones back out.''
