The police prosecution department has indicted two Arabs from Anata and eastern Jerusalem who stole 65 parrots from a Migdal Haemek habitat, worth about NIS 175,000 ($50,000).

The indictment indicates that the two planned to steal the parrots and transfer them to eastern Jerusalem. Armed with hammers and metal irons, the thieves entered the habitat, smashed a window, broke several doors, destroyed the alarm mechanism and opened a large hole in two walls in the building en route to the parrot breeding grounds.

The defendants crammed large quantities of parrots into small cages that made it difficult for them to breathe, thus abusing them, causing the death of five of the birdsand causing serious injuries to other parrots.

The defendants were arrested in two vehicles on Highway 6 heading south.