PETER Robins moved his sheep to Scarsdale to escape the drought gripping his farm in the Mallee. He leased properties around Ballarat and spent thousands of dollars carting his stock down, visiting regularly to keep an eye on things.But when he arrived to go around his sheep on Sunday, he found many had been stolen.Police are now investigating the theft, which saw about 60 lambs taken from properties along the Glenelg Hwy."It was getting so dry up there in the Mallee and becoming harder and harder to run sheep, so I decided to take the plunge and come south to find greener pastures," Mr Robins said."It took quite some time, but eventually I was able to lease some properties here and there and one was at Scarsdale. It was a lot of expense, but about six months ago we moved ewes and lambs to Scarsdale and since then I've come around once a week."When he arrived on Sunday, he saw vehicle and trailer tracks and noticed the ground around the yards holding the sheep had been disturbed.In a paddock next door, a gate had been forced and vehicle tracks were also obvious."We've gone to the effort to bring them down here to try and save them from the drought and now it seems they are a free feed for anybody," he said."It just gets under my skin."Mr Robins said he would now start travelling from his Hopetoun home more regularly."If that is the activity that goes on, I just have to be more vigilant," he said.