The notorious M25 cat killer appears to have struck Bucks, with the bodies of two cats found in a “mutilated” state in Marlow.

The feline killer was first dubbed the Croydon cat killer and is feared to have decapitated hundreds of cats around London and surrounding areas over the past few years in a trail of devastation.

The murder spree is believed to have started in the south London district of Croydon in October 2015, with the killer luring the victims with food and then bludgeoning them to death, often leaving the bodies outside owners’ homes for them to find.

Boudicca Rising, co-founder of the South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty charity (SNARL) said she believes the crimes are designed to hurt the owners of the pets rather than the animals themselves, adding that it could be a group of people working together in different areas to make it look like separate attacks.

The Metropolitan Police started investigating the deaths with the RSPCA in November 2015, under the name Operation Takahe, after SNARL raised concerns about a number of cats that were found dead with their heads and tails missing.

According to an online petition, the RSPCA believed the various deaths were due to blunt trauma “possibly from a moving vehicle”, and SNARL said some animals could have been “thrown against a wall”.

The monster is still believed to be on the loose. The last known attack in Bucks was in Aylesbury just before Christmas Eve last year.