The animal was about ten feet up, being held in place by nails in two of its feet. It is unclear whether the badger was already dead when the nails were put in place.

       A member of the public found the dead animal, on the morning of August 18, and alerted police.

       The North Wales Police rural crime team is conducting inquiries.

       A post-mortem will be conducted on the badger to determine the cause of death.

       PC Richard Smith commented: “We can’t yet confirm what the cause of death of this animal was, but we have submitted the body for a post-mortem.

       “Incredibly, badger persecution is still practiced in North Wales and we will continue to work with partners in tackling abhorrent incidents such as these.”

       Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact police by calling 101, quoting reference number Z121155.

       Alternatively, you can anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

       According to the Badger Trust thousands of British badgers are illegally targeted each year.

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       Its website states: “Badgers have a long history of cruelty and persecution in the UK spanning hundreds of years.

       “To this day badgers remain one of the most persecuted of all species despite having one of the highest level of protection in law.

       “From blood sports to development concerns, thousands of badgers become the victims of wildlife crimes each year.”

       Badgers were protected across the UK in 1992, when parliament passed the protection of badgers act.

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       However the animals continue to be targeted in some parts of Britain.

       The Badger Trust said: “Despite their unrivalled protection, thousands of badgers every year across the UK meet horrific fates due to both the barbaric acts of cruelty and illegal use of machinery in otherwise legal activities such as development and farming.

       “The most prevalent wildlife crimes involving badgers include: sett interference, development-related, farming-related, land clearance, shooting, badger baiting, poisoning, trapping, and gassing.”

       The Badger Trust has advised 30 police forces across England and Wales on wildlife crime since 2017.

       It is lobbying for tougher sentences, and recently held a meeting with the Prime Ministers special adviser for the environment.

       It commented: “Current sentencing is not a real deterrent, a potential sentence of up to 6 months is not working, and on good behaviour offenders serve only a few months.

       “Sentences for offences involving cruelty and suffering need to be increased.”

       Attacks on badgers are one of the current priorities of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime UK (PAW UK).

       The Government-backed group works with a number of charities and interest groups.

       The devolved Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish administrations all contribute to PAW UK.