The creature suffered horrific injuries in the attack and was discovered on a Lewes footpath by a group of shocked schoolgirls.

They immediately contacted the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) and waited with the stricken animal until the arrival of founder and rescue co-ordinator Trevor Weeks.

Vets later confirmed that the hedgehog had been kicked. It had suffered severe trauma to its mouth and nasal cavity. The upper jaw had been fractured in three places and pushed backwards.

Its injuries were so severe that it later had to be put to sleep, following advice from the St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

"I'm sickened and very upset," said Mr Weeks. "It's my 25th year of doing this job and I don't get upset easily, but this cruelty has left me struggling to keep composed."

Some WRAS volunteers had been reduced to tears by Monday's outrage. he said, which came just five days after a similar attack in Uckfield.

There, too, a hedgehog had suffered injuries through kicking and had to be put down.