The California-based Direct Action Everywhere has made breaking into farms and “rescuing” (stealing) livestock a signature campaign. It may have inspired a similar situation involving a Maryland farmer who found himself in the crosshairs of vegan activists.

In late April, Baltimore County Police were called to a family farm when Scott Braglio discovered that his family pet, a calf named Milly, had been stolen. Braglio had previously recorded the license plate of the vehicle two animal activists used to trespass onto his farm—just two days before the heifer heist.

The two activists, Jennifer Lauren Sully and Erika Lynn Wilkinson, had charges including theft and trespassing brought against them in May. The calf was found by police at a sanctuary called Life with Pigs, after the two activists has posted photos with the calf to social media. Officers later recovered the stolen calf from Life with Pigs and returned the calf to the Braglio farm after finding there was no abuse done to the calf.

Wilkinson runs the local group “DMV Actions for Animals” in the DC area. A message on the group’s Facebook page indicates she is interning for PETA this summer.

Unfortunately the story doesn’t end here.

Animal rights protesters have gone so far as to protest the Braglio farm and restaurants it partners with. This has even included the act of protestors pouring a bucket of fake blood on themselves outside the farm-to-table restaurant. In addition to the restaurant, the protesters have targeted the farm itself.

Ryan Phillips, the owner of Life with Pigs, allegedly tried to buy the calf from Braglio. After a phone call in which Braglio refused to sell his beloved pet, Philips allegedly filed a complaint and had charges filed against the farmer. The charges were soon dismissed and Braglio feels he has been cleared of wrongdoing on all accounts.

That hasn’t stopped Phillips though who continues to mount a campaign to try to get the calf back, going so far as threaten to “spend the next 20+ years if necessary fighting.”

The Braglio farm, which was vindicated of animal abuse, doesn’t deserve this. No farmer does. Now, because of the events that occurred, the farm faces decades of harassment.

Farmers love their animals. The fact that vegan activists refuse to understand that doesn’t give the right to break in and steal them.