Three final year students of Adventist Senior High School in Kumasi have been stripped of their boarding status for stealing a goat on campus belonging to one of their housemasters, authorities say.

The goat was to be "used by the housemaster for the Christmas festivities". The three Arts students were said to have threatened to steal the goat on the day it was brought to the school's campus. And the goat disappeared the next day.

The students, who were said to have admitted to the offence, have since replaced the stolen goat with a "skinny goat". Notwithstanding, the authorities want them to pay for the cost of the stolen goat before they are allowed entry into their various classrooms to take lessons.

However, the authorities failed to state the cost of the goat in the memo signed by the school's Headmaster, Ernest Kofi Gyimah. It gave the name of the three students as Edward Kwarteng, Kwabena Afriyie Osei and Davis Owusu Osei.

"The above named students had the impudence and stole the goat of a housemaster. The goat, on the day it was brought and tied up, the students remarked that the goat would not see the next day. True to their words, the goat never saw the following day," the memo stated.

A source within the school's top hierarchy confirmed the incident to TV3 Online but declined to answer further questions. A copy of the memo, which was posted on the notice board, has since been removed.

Investigation by TV3 Online has revealed the incident took place during the end of last term and it was upon resumption of school this academic term that authorities announced their decision in the memo

As their punishment, the memo said the three students have been withdrawn from boarding house, and that "if they are seen anywhere near the boarding house without permission, they will be given indefinite suspension".