Extremists have painted pro-badger graffiti on the farm gateway leading to the home of a Pembrokeshire farmer who sits on a bovine TB action group.

Stephen James, NFU Cymru representative on the Wales TB Action Group, discovered the graffiti at the top of his farm lane in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Three ‘No Cull’ slogans were daubed in red paint on both sides of the gateway and on the lane itself.

The home of Brian Walters, who represents the Farmers’ Union of Wales on the same committee, was similarly attacked.

Police are now investigating both incidents in the hope of tracking down the culprits.

Mr James, who farms in an intensive treatment area, has lived with bovine TB in his herd for 15 years.

Earlier this year, similar graffiti was painted outside NFU offices across Wales, including the Haverfordwest office.

Michael Sharratt, secretary of the West Wales Badger Group, condemned this latest incident as the work of extremists.

Mr Sharratt, who lives in Whitland said: “We oppose this kind of action. We have always worked within the law.”

But he said feelings were running high among the pro-badger sector because of the Welsh Assembly’s planned cull.

The attacks came in the same week as the latest progress report on the Welsh Assembly’s TB eradication programme was published.

In a bid to cut the number of overdue tests in Wales — which stood at 1,118 herds in May — the Assembly has approved stronger powers to ensure inspectors can enter premises to test for TB, with the possibility of obtaining a warrant to enter by force, if necessary.

Chief veterinary officer for Wales Dr Christianne Glossop said: “The first set of statistical performance data from TB Health Check Wales will be released in early December.

“This is expected to indicate that we are firmly on-course to meet our targets for the early months of the new testing programme and for driving down overdue tests.”

Of the animals in herds affected by overdue testing, more than a half are overdue by four weeks or less, which reflects the practical difficulties of presenting cattle on-farm.

Overdue herds are subject to movement restrictions.