Police from Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have arrested three men for stealing three horses from a tourist site at the city’s Prenn Waterfall on Monday. The arrested include Bui Thia, 32, of Ninh Hoa District, Khanh Hoa Province; and two brothers, Nguyen Van Phuoc Loc, 34, and Nguyen Thanh Linh, 25, both from Phan Rang-Thap Cham City in Ninh Thuan Province. Thia, a horse trader, was the instigator of the theft, who hired Loc and Linh to steal the horses, investigators said. According to the case file, the center on June 17 discovered the disappearance of the horses, which had been tied to a girder on the Prenn Bridge in the Prenn tourist center. The horses were there for tourists to watch and photograph, the center said. The theft was reported to police, who then launched an investigation to track down the culprits. After reviewing the activities of horse traders in the city, the police focused on Thia and began to monitor him before detaining him for questioning.| Thia pleaded guilty of the theft and admitted that he had hired Linh and Loc to steal the horses for VND15 million (US$720). Another person was also involved in the theft but has escaped, Thia said. From Thia’s testimony, police later arrested Linh and Loc in Lam Dong’s Duc Trong District.  After receiving the horses form the two brothers, Thia hired a truck for VND6 million to transport them to central Khanh Hoa province, where he sold the animals to the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biological Preparations in Cam Lam District for VND36 million. Police have returned the horses to their owner and are hunting down the remaining thief, who is still at large.  Yesterday the police ordered the thieves to re-create the scene of their theft for investigation purposes.