Most of the mink were recovered.

Lindsey McMullin said ''animal rights terrorists'' hit his farm the morning of Aug. 19 and released about 600 minks.

Several died after being hit by cars or from stress after they returned to the farm, he said. Others were dehydrated and lethargic, he said.

''I would like to have every one of those guys who attacked my farm go out with me to recover these animals and see the damage they've done,'' McMullin said.

The media office for the Animal Liberation Front posted a statement from ''a local soldier out of Utah'' saying that 300 minks had been released and breeding records destroyed.

''Good news, haven't seen this done in a while so it had to be done,'' said the note, according to the group.

The loose-knit group opposes fur farms, saying the animals are treated cruelly in confinement and suffer before dying.

Camille Hankins, a spokeswoman for the group, said they don't know - and don't ask - who sent the message.

''These are done by underground activist groups who have a vested interest in remaining anonymous,'' she said, adding that those involved are supposed to adhere to a credo of not harming animals or people.

Lt. Matt Evans of the South Jordan police declined to provide details about the case, saying investigators did not want to give any additional publicity to those responsible. He said no arrests had been made in the case.

Matt Hargreaves, a spokesman for Utah Farm Bureau, said that people might have differences over the use of animals but this isn't the way to get them settled. He views the incident at the McMullin farm the same as someone breaking into a store and breaking merchandise.

''It's a legitimate agricultural enterprise,'' he said of the mink farm, adding that the animals are cared for and kept indoors.

It has been several years since mink farms have been vandalized in Utah.

There were several cases in the late 1990s. In one case, the Fur Breeders Cooperative in Sandy was bombed. In other cases at individual farms, thousands of minks were released.

''It's been relatively quiet,'' said Teresa Platt, director of Fur Commission USA, a trade group representing about 300 mink farms in 24 states.

Platt tracks and helps publicize vandalism at mink farms. She noted that about 6,000 mink were released from a British Columbia farm five days after the South Jordan incident.

''Could they have gone from Utah to British Columbia? Yeah, they could have,'' she said. ''Our experience has been it's a handful of people in a car moving across state lines.''

She said the global market place for mink products is still a top item of discussion among mink farmers but ''ecoterrorism is right up there.''

Platt said the McMullin farm specializes in raising black mink for use in cold-weather clothing. She said more than 600,000 mink are raised each year at 66 mink farms in Utah. At auction, the pelts are valued at nearly $41 million, she said.

''It's been a lot of years since we've had to react to these people, but apparently, they're back,'' McMullin said.

"I would like to have every one of those guys who attacked my farm go out with me to recover these animals and see the damage they've done."

LINDSEY MCMULLIN,

mink farm owner