The bird of prey had become a fixture at the Championships, and gained a certain notoriety with his own Twitter account and Facebook page. The four-year-old’s avian menacing presence has been enough to keep local terrorised pigeons from nesting in the eaves of the covered roof over Centre court.

Rufus was said to be a family pet called into annual duty at the All England club.

The pigeon problem remains under control through, with another hawk Hector flying in for fill-in duty.

The idea of keeping a personal anti-pigeon prowler on hand was so clever that French Open officials installed a hawk of their own for Roland Garros last month.

The BBC reported that Rufus was taken from the car of his handler parked in a private drive. Expensive radio equipment used to track his flights was left behind.