A family of two adult and three young rare minature apes have been stolen from the Apenheul primate park in Apeldoorn by thieves who broke in and stole their night shelter.

The box containing the golden lion tamarins was taken from the wall by the thieves who got into the centre by damaging a fence and breaking open the door to the monkey house.

A year ago, a number of other minature monkeys, including two golden lion tamarins, were stolen from a nearby zoo.

According to Nos television, the monkeys are all registered because they are part of a global breeding programme managed out of England’s Whipsnade Zoo.